Young Victoria
by Silver tongued Poet
Summary: This is the story of how James and Victoria met and started their lives together. Bad review, give it a chance! this is my second fan fic!
1. Chapter 1

**Like I said: This is my second fan fiction! I dont think Victoria gets a lot of credit. The idea just came to me out of the blue.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!!**

Prologue: This is what I remembered

The Seattle sky-line is beautiful this time of year, though I wouldn't have noticed. I only had one goal in mind, I couldn't see past anything else. All I saw was her face, the reason for my existence for the past year and a half. She was the reason that my love was gone, never to come back. I warned him that this would happen, but he wouldn't listen to me, he never did and he never will again.

I was gripping the iron rail so tightly that it snapped like a twig under my touch. I was not used to living in 'civilization' if that's what you want to call this place. The truth is that the human race was corrupt and lacked morals. It was the same dog-eat-dog world that it is in the wild. I heard the door open and close but I didn't acknowledge who it was.

"I have recruited more my love." Riley whispered softly in my ear. His attempts to make me his own was really starting to drag, I don't know if I could love anyone anymore.

_What's the harm?_ A familiar voice asked. _I mean, its not like I can do anything to stop it, right?_

I pushed his voice away by growling softly. Riley misinterpereted, he thought that I was responding to him, not James' anoying voice. If he didn't quit, I was going to slug him where it hurts.

"We have too much to do." I whispered, for some reason we were both talking in whispers. We were alone up here, Riley had stollen his mothers credit card while he was fleshing out his aliby. He was special, not only as the first human that I didn't kill, but that he didn't act like all the other craized newborns that I had met and killed, all apart of James's plan. Why does everything have to remind me of James?!?

Riley's family thought that he was going to some prestegious school for briliant minds. A part of me felt sorry for crushing a young adolecent boy's dreams, but she was a small part. The bigger part of me just saw me inching closer to what I wanted, the destruction of _his_ happienes and existance.

It didn't even matter that she was human, I would have crushed her anyway even if she was a vampire, besides, its easier to kill a human than it is a vampire, all you have to do is stop their heart. Something even vampire venom can't cure.

"Maybe your right." Riley started to agree with me but then changed his mind. "But we still have some free time."

I knew what he was talking about but I felt like I owed something to the man that I had loved ever since I was four.

"Riley, you're eighteen years old." I said seriously. "Wait four years and then we'll talk." I smiled. Physically, I was twenty-two years old, mentaly…. I honestly didn't know. Age had become this big blur to me. I was always learning, always exploring. It was something I always did with James, something that I would never do again. "Leave me be Riley. I need time alone to think."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Go train the newborns and stop them from killing each other!" I suggested angrily. "I am getting tired of having to create more."

He left me to brood over memories that I didn't want to revisit. I laid down on the bed and put the pillow over my face, which was stupid because I couldn't suffocate myself.

I sat there for a minute thinking about the 'good old days'. Back before we had ever met Laurant. Back when it was just James and I, even back before we were vampires. Just him and me.

Those memories would have made me laugh and cry. But this body couldn't support tears now and I didn't feel like laughing anymore. I just let the memories wash over me in waves of slow and painful torture.

**Very short, I know! But if there smaller, I can update more often! :D **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again!! T****his is the first chapter, it kinda has a flash-back with in a flash-back so if you get confused just let me know!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!!**

Chapter one: How it began

I was sitting at the piano doing my daily practices. I knew this by heart so I could think of other things while I played. I was rehearsing for what I was supposed to play for a funeral the following day. My mother's life-long friend, Charles, had passed away.

Charles was our cook for years. We still allowed him to live with us after he retired, something that was unheard of. Mother couldn't bear to send him away. When his only son James died, Charles just became downright useless. His depression had affected his ability to cook and serve. We swallowed the food as best as we could as to not insult him, but we usually threw it out. Even Father's hunting dogs wouldn't touch it. We all breathed a sigh of relief when Mother asked Charles to retire.

Thinking of Charles reminded me of how James had died I was five years old and he was twenty-one. It was a hot August day, though the clouds obscured the sun. James and I had just wrapped up three rounds of hide-and-seek. James was complaining about how he always lost.

"You are just too hard to find Red." James said. He was the only one who was allowed to call me 'Red'. "You must have some kinda magic that makes you disappear."

"No I don't James," I disagreed. "You just don't know how to play."

He thought about it for a second, and then he smiled. "Well, I may not know how to play but," he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. "you don't know how to swim!" he started running for the lake that was on the outskirts of our property.

I don't know how it happened. One minute I was yelling and telling him I would tell my father if I got wet, then the next thing I know I had this sinking feeling, like we were being watched. Then I had this feeling that something bad was going to happen.

"James, put me down now!" My voice had a tone of hysteria to it. I was really starting to freak out.

"You aren't getting out of this that easily!" James roared with laughter. His humor was jubilant. He didn't sense the coming danger.

"James, something bad is going to happen if we don't go home now!" I started hitting him in the back, trying to make him let me down as my survival instinct kicked in.

We had finally reached the shore of the lake. He was ankle deep in the cold water before he stopped. I had an upside down view of the lake but could still see what was coming. Something, or someone, was making the water ripple.

She had crow black hair that framed her face in soft curls and rolled halfway down her back. She wore simple clothes that were torn in multiple places, like she had been living in the wilderness for a couple of months. Her skin was icy white and glimmered slightly. Her eyes ranged over the scene before her. She stared at us then our surroundings then back to us. When she got about three feet away she stopped, and then I could more carefully look at her face. All of her features were angular and straight, her eyes were a menacing bloodlust red.

"Red, go back to the house." James sat me down on the ground. His eyes never left the woman's.

"James." I tugged on his shirtsleeve, I wasn't leaving him behind. "Come with me."

"I can't Red, no go back to the house and don't look back." He spun me around and pushed me back, but I turned back around. The woman in the water hissed and took a step forward. "Leave her alone!" James yelled and threw a rock at her head. The rock should have killed her, instead it crumbled into dust in her hand that had some how blocked the rock just in time. Then the woman growled and stalked closer to James.

I screamed his name and ran for the trees. I closed my eyes and ran towards the house; I don't know how I found the way. The last thing I remember hearing was the woman growling and then James's tortured screams.

I hadn't realized it, but I had stopped playing.

"Victoria?" I heard my mother calling from the other room. "Why have you stopped playing?"

"I'm sorry mother." I responded in a voice that didn't sound like my own anymore. "I was just day dreaming." I wiped a tear away and continued to play with much more force than necessary.

**Hum.... which era could this be in... if you know please tell me! lol No, I am going for a whole Tuck Everlasting vibe here.... I hope it meshes well. After this chapter there will be no flash-backs unless I throw one in for a whim, but there may be some skipping forward..... I'll let you know!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks so much for reading! I appreciate it! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter two: What Happened at the Funeral

It was a small gathering of all the other workers on the plantation, my mother, father and I. It was also short, we stayed long enough for Jenkins and Henry to dig the grave under Charles's favorite tree, and for them to place the simple casket in the ground and cover it back up with dirt. I played the piano that they had brought up the hill. I played with precision and forced myself to not daydream.

Later, when I was out tending to my mother's garden, I noticed a dark figure looming over Charles grave.

"Hey you!" I shouted as loud as I could. The man turned around and my heart stopped. I dropped my tools and ran up the hill, but by the time I got there, James was gone.

"James?" I looked all around me but couldn't see him. "James!"

"Miss Evans!" I heard Ms. Adie call my name. "Come inside right now! You'll catch your death out here."

I walked back to where she was, pale as a sheet.

"What's the matter child?" Ms. Adie asked me. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I took an unsteady laugh as I walked back into the house.

After supper I complained of having a headache and excused myself to go lie down. I had a headache from having my hair pulled against my skull. I quickly pulled out all the pins and let my red hair flow down my shoulders, and I had time to think.

What had happened earlier? I couldn't make sense of it. My head turned in answerless circles. If James was up there, then what could be the logical reason why? Could he still be alive? They never brought in his body. In fact they had never found his body. But when I saw him, he looked the same as he did back before he died.

So he couldn't still be alive. I crushed my hope before it could get too out of control. _Maybe it was a ghost?_ My more logical side suggested. The farmer who lived next door had told me that ghosts were people who had died that had unfinished business left to do here on Earth, and it was our job as people among the living to help them finish it so that they could rest in peace. But how does one help a ghost, and what unfinished business would James have?

I got frustrated with all the questions and had to get out of the house. I snuck out the back door and ran for a familiar, yet terrifying, place from my child hood.

The lake was still like it was all those years ago, still crystal clear blue. The reeds blew in the light breeze, playing with my hair as well. I sat down on the shore and looked out over the lake. If I put my hand in the water I bet I could feel those faint footprints. I let the weakness that I usually keep under control over take me.

"I should have stayed with him." I sobbed to myself. "Now my mind is playing tricks on me." I buried my face in my hands. "I fell so alone, I have no one to talk to anymore. I wish you would come back James, I need you."

I continued to sit there, even though every cell in my body told me that someone was watching me, just like it did that day that he died. The hairs on my neck were standing up. If I didn't bolt now, something was going to happen. My feet longed to get away from here while my heart and head just wanted to stay here and cry about memories.

Eventually the sun went down and I decided that it would be better to go home now than have the search party find me later.

The rest of the week past slowly, we all had our chores to do. Unlike most plantation owners, my family and I helped out. My father would help tend the garden, while my mother and I would help do the laundry, washing, hang drying, folding, it was the same cycle so it would keep my hands busy but not my mind.

It was free to ponder things. Like where James would be if he was around now. He would be 37 now if he were still alive. I would have liked to think that he would have still been here waiting on me. There was a time that I thought he fancied me, I didn't get a chance to find out.

Now, as it so often happened, I got the feeling that I was being watched, and that danger loomed just around the corner, waiting to spring. I spent more time down by the lake. My bare skin was starting to get brown. For some odd reason, I would talk to James like he was sitting right beside me. Like the past 16 years had never happened, I was the only thing that had changed. He was 21 when he died and I was 21 now. I felt like the wheel of life had come full circle, like I was coming to an end as well.

"James." I said to no one. "Did you know that I am the same age as you now?"

"Yes I was aware of that." I heard his voice in my head. Great, now I am having delusions. But it felt too real, like he was actually there. I got that feeling that I was being watched again but I couldn't make myself turn around. "Boy the years sure have changed you Red."

"James?" I stood up but still didn't turn to look at him. I still wasn't sure if I was dreaming or if all this was real.

"Yea, its me." His voice was closer to me than it had been before. I resisted the urge to turn around this time. I couldn't afford to be disappointed again. He reached out to touch my hand. His fingers were icy cold. I flinched away from the coldness. "What's the matter Red?"

"I'm not sure that your real." I admitted. "I don't want to be disappointed again when you turn out to be just my imagination."

"Oh I'm real alright, and I couldn't be from your imagination, your not that creative."

I finally looked at him, angered by his words. I had some witty comeback but the words were forgotten as I stared at him. He looked exactly the same, except for new clothes and his eyes. They were ruby red, not ice blue like I had been expecting.

"Time has changed you as well James." I finally said. "I thought you were dead."

"That's one way of putting it." It looked like he was enjoying a private joke.

"What happened that day James?"

"It was something in the water. It made me sick. I'm always cold and it changed the color of my eyes."

"What about the woman?" I suddenly remembered.

"What woman?"

"The woman who was coming after me but you stopped her." I remembered the long black hair, the paleness of her skin…… the same ruby red eyes….

"Red, there was no woman."

"I saw her." I stubbornly held on to my side of the argument. "She was going to kill me if you didn't stop her, and you died trying to save me."

"If I died then how did I end up here?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed. "If you aren't a ghost, then what are you?"

James was evasive. "I can't tell you," he leaned over again to whisper in my ear. "it's a secret."

"James I'm not five years old anymore." I was tired of all the secrets. I just wanted a straight answer. "How did you end up here then?"

"Well I've been traveling for a while now and thought I would come home to visit old friends." He stared off across the lake.

"I'm sorry about your father James."

"He was never the same after I left was he?"

"No."

He sighed. "I sure have missed this place Red."

"Would you please stop calling me that?" I asked.

"Why?"

"I don't go by that name anymore. Its just plain Victoria now."

"Alright then, just plain Victoria." He said. I got chills when he said my name. "Do you think you could do something for me?"

"That depends on what it is." I tore my gaze away from him and stared out across the lake again. I was still mad that he couldn't trust me with the truth.

"I need a place to stay for awhile, but I don't want anyone to know that I'm back in town. Can you leave a blanket and some extra clothes out in the barn?"

"I guess I can, on one condition."

"What?" He asked defensively.

"You have to explain the last 16 years to me."

"Wow, it's really been 16 years?" James was surprised.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

He sighed and looked at me again. "Yes, I will explain this to you, someday."

If only I knew then what I know now.

**Hum..... Is James what we think he is? Will he make good on his promise? Find out next time!**

**P.S. R&R they make my day!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for the reviews everyone! I would say who you are but its late and I'm tired. Sorry but you know who you are! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Three: What went Wrong

I was still in bed the next morning way past eleven. My mother had come in there to wake me up several times but I didn't want to get up. I was going over the events from the past twenty-four hours.

Part of me wanted to believe that yesterday was just a dream. That I had finally snapped and James was just an illusion. It must have been because Charles had died and it had just brought up those painful memories. James was gone and never coming back, I reminded myself with tears in my eyes.

But the other part of me wanted fiercely to believe that James was still alive in some form. I was concentrating on the parts that I couldn't make up. Like the way he talked and smelled, the way it felt when he held my hand on the way to the barn. My thoughts lingered on that memory. There was no way I could have imagined his icy cold palm pressing into mine. Like he said, I wasn't that imaginative.

I finally sat up and looked towards the barn, it looked uninhabited. All the horses and cows were probably put out into the pasture by now. I slipped into a comfortable working dress and hurried downstairs.

"Cecily?" I heard my mother call. "Cecily? Oh, where is that girl?" I went into the kitchen to see my mother leaning out the window.

"Good morning Mother." I announced myself.

"More like 'Good afternoon'." She looked me over curiously. "Have you seen Cecily today?" I shook my head no. "That girl has been a thorn in my side for the last time! She was supposed to help me clean the kitchen today." Mother grumbled as she bustled about the kitchen.

My mother was one of those people that couldn't sit still until all the work was done. I helped her for about an hour and then she sent me out looking for Cecily.

Cecily was one of our house keepers. She tended to the first floor. There was just so much of the house that one person couldn't clean it.

I couldn't help myself as I passed the barn. I peaked in to where I left the blankets last night. They were still where I left them, untouched. I was so angry at myself that I stomped off towards the lake.

Don't ask me why I went there, I don't even know myself. Why did I think that he would wait for me? Even if he was still alive, James was one of those people who would never settle in one place. I was surprised that he even stayed when his father worked here.

He promised that he would show me the world, but that was when I was young and gullible. I tossed rocks into the lake, I was never good at it but it felt like something to do. I stayed out there for hours just lobbing one stone after another. When the sun started to set I headed back. I took a different way back to the house, not wanting to follow any more paths. It felt like I was doing that a lot lately.

I was clinging to the past, I had to just give up and move on. Mother was starting to nag me about finding someone. I was almost out of the marrying age, and unless I wanted to end up like Aunt Millicent, the old maid of our family, I had better find someone I could spend the rest of my life with.

I contemplated my options getting more lost with every step that I took. I didn't see where it came from but I instantly knew that I was in pain.

I let out a scream and reached down to touch a snake wrapped around my leg. I could feel it trying to crush my leg bone.

I felt blindly for something that I could hit the snake with and eventually found a rock and smashed the snake repeatedly. After about an hour struggle, the snake became limp and I was able to push it off. I had two puncture wounds right above my right ankle.

I could feel the venom pulsing through my leg with every heart beat. I tried to get up so that I could get some help but my leg wouldn't comply with me.

"Help!" I called out weakly. "Help me!" I tried to make my voice a little louder but I just couldn't.

I started to crawl forward slowly.

_I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!_ Was all I could think about with every inch that I gained. My arms finally gave out and I collapsed onto the hard ground.

I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep or death to find me. I didn't hear them coming but I felt someone pick me up off the ground. I didn't open my eyes, I was so tired. I just wanted to fall asleep, to escape the pain, for it to end forever.

"Kill me… please…." I gasped not thinking of the consequences of my words.

"It will be over soon I promise." He said. Then I knew I was dead. He was carrying me to the great beyond.

The pain was excruciating, I pleaded uselessly and he continued to carry me along.

"Where … are we… going?" I asked.

"To a place that's out of the way." He answered.

We stopped talking, for one, I was so exhausted, and two he seemed to be concentrating really hard on something.

He laid me down on a large hard stone. He knelt down and listened to my heart, it was beating feebly. He moved to my head.

"I am going to try and save you." He whispered in my ear. "Its going to hurt, I know, but it will be all over soon."

Hurt? Wasn't I already in enough pain? "No… no more pain… please." I pleaded.

"I'm sorry Victoria, but I am not going to loose you again." His lips moved from my ear to my neck.

His cold mouth stung my exposed skin. I must have been running a fever, everything felt so cold. Then his teeth sank into the flesh at my neck. I heard a blood-curdling scream but didn't know where it came from. I couldn't feel the pain from his bite wound, the snake's venom overpowered every other pain, but slowly the venom felt like it was retreating back down to my ankle as the feeling of being burned alive replaced it.

I recognized my own scream this time. I begged and pleaded with him to kill me a thousand times. All he would say was that he was sorry and it would be over soon. At one point I even think he left, he stopped answering my useless pleas.

It felt like I was walking on hot coals. The fire burned on and seemed to grow stronger with every beat of my heart, which was beating faster. My arms were flailing to put out the fires. Couldn't he see the fire and put it out? It seemed like it would never end.

Finally the pain started to dull, retreating from my hands and feet. Then it felt like my heart was trying to beat itself out of my rib cage.

"It's almost time." I heard him say to himself. I couldn't believe that I could still hear him over the frantic beating of my heart, but I could. I was surprised to find that I could still think clearly even though I knew I was dying. I could hear more than just his whisper, but his bare feet brushing against loose stones, the sound of birds singing outside, a river somewhere in the distance.

I screamed once more as my heart pounded faster, like a freight train. I clawed at my chest trying to get my heart out, to do anything to stop the pain.

"You're going to hurt yourself." James told me, restraining my hands. I started to scream again and his mouth moved to stop mine. He kissed me like I had never been kissed before. Although, no one had ever kissed me before, I'm sure that it wouldn't have been like this. His skin didn't freeze mine like it did before. It almost felt the same temperature as mine. Was he becoming like me, or was I becoming like him. I wasn't sure.

His kisses distracted me from the pain and, eventually, my heart stopped. I was dead, I knew it. So why was I still breathing, thinking? My breaths were shallow, but I felt no relief tied to the action, I didn't need to breath anymore. I was thinking about this while I was kissing James back and drawing myself closer to him.

If I wasn't dead, then this was the weirdest dream that I had ever had. I stopped kissing him to wait for the time that I would wake up. I knew it was coming I could feel it.

"What are you doing?" James asked when I stopped responding to his impatient kisses.

"I'm waiting for me to wake up. This is a dream." I told him.

"This is no dream Victoria." James informed me.

"James what happened to me?" I asked. I looked down at my skin and it was bone white. I checked my leg where the bite marks were and there was no evidence that I was even injured.

"I saved your life." He touched the place where he had bit me with his fingertips.

"But what have I become?" I touched his fingers and they slid away for me to feel the imprint of his teeth along my neckline.

"Just like me." James stood up and offered me his hand. "Come on, I'll explain."

We walked slowly as he told me what he was, what I had become. He told me all about the way he 'died' and how he convinced the woman in the water to let him live.

"So she made you into a vampire?" I guessed.

"More or less." He smiled lightly.

"And now I'm a…." I couldn't make myself say the word.

He stopped walking and faced me. "It's the only way we can be together Victoria. I've created you, so you can go your own way if you wish, but I can teach you how to live this lifestyle. I can understand if you're mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you." I reached out to take his hand. "You did what you had to, you saved me."

"To give you this life?" he gestured to himself. "To make you a monster, to be a slave to your thirst forever. What kind of life is that?"

"It's a life that I get to spend with you." I moved closer. "A life that I choose." I kissed him lightly and he held my face in his hands to prolong the moment. This is how it should be, I reminded myself. Fate took him away from me, and kept him 21 forever so that I could have him again when I was ready, and I was ready.

Those first few months were chaotic though.

I was against it when he told me what would extinguish the fire in my throat.

"I would feel wretched James!" I shuddered.

"It's not wretched if you only kill the bad humans." He tried to reason with me.

"Good or bad doesn't matter!" I screeched at him. "Were killing innocents!" Then I gasped as I ran into the cave and found Cecily's broken body lying on the floor.

"It's not what you think Victoria." James quickly hid her from view.

"You killed her." I whispered slowly backing away from him.

"She was sneaking off every night to spend the night with John Adams down the street. She was planning on leaving you and your family to go live with him. She was bad Victoria." He walked forward very slowly. His arms were out stretched, pleading.

"No get away from me!" I turned and sprinted away from him.

"VICTORIA!" I heard him yell after me but I didn't look back.

I ran through the woods at a frightening pace. The trees became a blurred wall of green on either side of me. Then I caught the scent of the most appealing thing I had ever smelt in my entire life.

My body took advantage of my minds sudden shock. I sank back into a crouch and stalked my prey. All my thoughts were bent around finding whatever it was that had that delicious scent and eating it. I hadn't had a thing to eat in days. I jumped up into the trees to get a better look at my victim. I barely registered the fact that it was a man. All I could see was the veins that spider-webbed across his body. All I could feel was the heat that radiated off of him. My mind spun out on the best ways to kill him.

Finally I gave up and just went for the surprise attack. He barely knew what had hit him before I broke his neck and bent over him to drink.

I could feel the presence of someone else with me but I didn't turn to see if it was friendly or not. I was enjoying the satisfaction of bringing down my first kill.

A small part of my rational brain was screaming at me. _Why aren't you stopping? Why did you kill that innocent man? He probably had a wife and children and you just took him away from them. You are a monster!_ But she eventually stopped screaming and started enjoying the way it felt.

The blood was refreshing, like cool spring water quenching my thirst.

"You did fabulous." James said when I finished.

"Thank you." I smiled as he helped me drag the body off into the woods.

"We should leave before the human's get suspicious." James said as we found a good spot to dump the body.

"Right." I said.

He took my hand and I never looked back.

**And so begins the life and times of James and Victoria. Hopefully Laurant will be joining them soon. I don't know yet! R&R, they mean a lot to me!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter four: Reborn

I soon got over my silly fears about killing humans. I began not to think of them as equals. They were nothing to me except for a free meal. James taught me how to attack and kill them without even having to think about it. He also showed me how to track them.

"It's not going to be easy." James explained. "Tracking is sort of a specialty of mine. Just like your self-evasion is." We had figured out that before I was changed that I had the ability to sense danger and find a safe way around it. It had gotten out of a few snags and I was happy that I had found something useful to do.

James said that he couldn't really describe _how_ to track, he just felt a pull towards whatever he was tracking, and if I thought that it was too dangerous then he would trust me and we would back off.

On days when our eyes were coal black, the only sign to humans that we were thirsty, we could live among them undetected. This was good because we needed to feed.

We walked arm-and-arm into a crowded tavern, the heat coming from the close packed bodies that it nearly made me deranged. But James's soft touch kept me from going insane. I was only a couple of months old to this new life, a 'newborn' he had called me.

He spotted his prey, a young blonde girl who was working behind the bar. I found mine soon after. He was talking to the girl and was leaning across the table in a persuasive manner. She walked away from him and handed someone else their drinks.

James and I headed for the bar.

"Can I get you two anything?" The blonde asked annoyed by the stares she was getting from the man.

"A scotch for me." James smiled coyly at the girl. He always had a way with women. She turned to me.

"The same if you please." I was trying not to breathe, that only made it worse.

"It will be over soon." James brushed my hair out of my face. He was better at this than I was, he had nearly a decades worth of practice. There was no way that I would be able to equal him.

The blonde returned minutes later with our drinks and we gagged on them as we tried to drink them. Human food was disgusting to me now, only one thing would satisfy me, and he was making his move.

"Oh, come off it Jessie!" He said with a thick southern accent. "You know I didn't mean it!"

"That's what you said about Connie last week!" She set his glass back down on the table and walked away.

James and I acted like we weren't paying attention to me like half of the people in the bar were. The two of them seemed to notice this at the same time we did, because Jessie started to blush and he sat back down, finished his drink, and staggered out the door.

I turned my nose up. The blood didn't taste nearly as good as it does when they aren't drunk, but at that point I would take what I could get.

At first, we didn't notice that the girl, Jessie, was missing. James nudged me and used his chin to point to the back door. I knew what he was asking and nodded my head. It was safe to proceed. We stood up and walked calmly out the door.

He suggested that we find my prey first. It would be easier to follow his scent. When we found him, he was cornering his own prey. Jessie was cowering in the corner of the alley.

"Stay away from me Hank!" she squeaked in a terrified voice. "You're drunk!"

Hank was looming over her. "Aww, don't be like that honey!" He reeked of alcohol.

"Hey!" James made the first move.

Hank and Jessie turned to see us blocking their only exit. "Get your own, pretty boy!" Hank said spitting at James's shoes.

"You shouldn't have done that." James slipped into his crouch and I caught his arm.

"Easy." I cautioned with a whisper. "He's mine remember?" We both stood back up and I approached Hank.

"Now, you don't want to have this young one." I said though she was probably only a couple of years younger than me physically. "Why don't you come with me and I can show you a real good time." I flashed him an alluring smile as I took him by the arm. Jessie was all but forgotten about as we strolled out of the alley. I looked at James and winked at him. He went over to check on Jessie.

We both knew what to do. We had done this several times. I would take Hank somewhere out of the way, would let him have his fun, and then I would have mine. He would never know what hit him.

"Are we there yet?" He asked playfully as he stroked my hair affectionately.

"Almost." I played along. The words almost made me gag. As if I would ever be in love with someone other than James. Though I had to admit that he was better at being seductive than me.

I took Hank to an abandoned house on the outskirts of town. I was done with him in less than twenty minutes.

James and I had agreed to meet back up in front of the tavern. I sat outside to wait for him, he always took the longest. I ignored the advances of the drunken fools that came out of the tavern. Back before I became a vampire, I would have never had the nerve to sit there like I did, but a lot had changed since then.

James and I had been all over the country. Moving on before the humans became aware of us. We had even pulled off some robberies in the mid-west. When one of the bankers asked us who we were, we gave them fake names. I was 'Bonnie' and James was 'Clyde'. I had learned more in those first few months than I had ever in the first twenty-one years of my life.

James came back a little before the sun came up and we headed off to the next town to the sound of shocked screams.

**Writing Chapter 5 as I type this message! Hope you like it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This was origionaly part of chapter four but it just kept getting bigger! Thanks for the comments I apreciate them!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Five: Friend or Foe?

Several years later, we had crossed the ocean over into the British Isles. We did a European tour of sorts. It was there that I had remembered that we weren't married yet.

"Does it bother you that much?" James asked when I told him.

"Well, a little." I admitted.

"Why?" He asked, though I could tell he wasn't interested, he had just asked to be polite.

"When I see young couples out in the daylight, while we hide here in the shadows, they just look so happy." I explained. "I'm not saying that were not happy, I'm just envious of them. Besides," I slid closer to him and kissed his cheek, "it would show the world that you belong to me and no one else." I had developed a sense of possessiveness while getting accustomed to this new life. It made me nervous to think that James could leave me and go off and have a fling with someone else.

"Well I guess if it means that much to you." He held me tightly. "I guess we can."

It was a small ceremony, just me, James, the father and his wife. They didn't comment on our abruptness or our appearance. I was starting to like the French.

Once the ceremony was over, James took me to a French villa that was over-looking the city of Paris. The Eiffel tower was shining beautifully, like a beacon of light welcoming us home.

We were still in the honeymoon phase when we met him. He was dressed simply in the latest French fashion. He was sitting outside of a Café which was about to close. Two women were closing down by themselves. Back in my home town, they wouldn't have been there alone. A father, brother or friend would escort them back home. But maybe it was different here.

They didn't seem to see the man sitting there watching them. When they turned to walk up the street towards home, he got up and followed them.

James watched them closely. He looked at me. "Do you feel like going on the hunt?"

I couldn't sense any danger. "I suppose." It hadn't been long since we last fed, but I wanted to follow the man. There was something intriguing about him.

We followed behind them as we waited for him to make his attack. As I tried to get his scent, I noticed that something was off. I could smell the two females, but not the male. I wanted to tell James, but we were too close to them to even whisper.

The man let them continue on for five more blocks until he caught there attention.

"Excuse me ladies." He said with a slight French accent. "But I think you forgot something." He held up a handkerchief, that had letters monogrammed on it.

The dark haired girl patted the pocket on her dress. "Oh, zit must 'ave slipped out." She blushed at her clumsiness and approached the man. "Thank you."

"My pleasure. Do you mind if I escort you back home?" He smiled brightly. Then I got a good look at his face as they passed under a lit street lamp. His face was too perfect, but what it really came down to was his eyes. This time I couldn't stop myself. I dragged James back into the shadows.

"What are you doing?" James looked at me like I was insane.

"He's a vampire James." I hissed. "Didn't you see his eyes?"

"I still want to follow them." James insisted. "I haven't seen a hunt in action before."

So we followed, against my better judgment. He went into tracking mode as I followed behind. We scaled the side of a building as the male vampire took them down a side street.

"This is not zee way to our home." One of the girls told the vampire.

"It is a detour." He smiled confidently. She seemed worried but her friend didn't seem to notice.

We watched as he murmured sweet things into the dark haired girl's ear and she would giggle. Her friend got more and more anxious with every step. She eventually told her friend that she would met her back at home and turned around and headed back towards the main road.

The vampire looked after her with a disappointed look on his face.

"Oh don't worry about her." The other girl assured him. "She never wants to have any fun." The vampire let her pull him along. "There is a place I know that we can stay without being interrupted."

"Is it out of the way?" He asked.

"Yes, no one comes out here except for during the winter festival."

"All the more better." He purred excitedly.

"This is getting sickening to watch." I whispered to James. I wondered if this was how he hunted. He was too focused on his target that I don't think he even heard me.

When the buildings stopped, we took to the trees. The French girl took the vampire to a huge open field. James and I stopped at the edge of the tree line. They stayed out there all night. It was only at dawn when he revealed his true colors.

She seemed surprised that his skin was glowing. He admitted to being more than a normal human, and then saying that he wasn't human at all. He asked her if she wanted to join him. She backed away from him, and then made the mistake of turning and running.

James was so caught up in the scene that he leaned forward on the balls of his feet. I had to hold him back so he wouldn't go after the girl himself.

The other vampire couldn't let the girl live after what he had told him. He made it quick, he wasn't sadistic about it like James and I were. He didn't play with his food when he hunted.

"Such a shame." I heard him mutter to himself. "I really wanted to keep you." He picked up the lifeless body to find somewhere to dump it before moving on.

I was expecting James to go after him, so it surprised both of us when I called out to him. When he heard my call, he bolted for the forest, leaving his kill on the ground in plain sight.

"Victoria?" James called after me as I ran towards the vampire.

All three of us were enclosed by the trees around us. Now that I knew what to look for, I could smell him and caught his scent quickly. I could feel James following close behind me.

"James can you track him?" I asked. "I'm starting to loose the scent."

"I'll try." He said reluctantly. I couldn't imagine why he would sound that way. He was the one who wanted to meet him. Of course I could have been more tactful and followed him instead of shouting 'Hey you!' and announcing my presence.

His trail started to loop back on itself as it spun through the French country side. We eventually gave up when his trail crossed an open road. The sun was directly over head and we couldn't risk being seen.

"Do you think you could track him after nightfall?" I asked James eagerly.

"I suppose so but I don't know why." He leaned up against a tree and looked at me disapprovingly.

"I'm curious." I told him. "That's all. You're the only other vampire I have met. Besides, it looked like he was trying to create a companion for himself."

"And you wanted to ask him if he wanted to join us?" James finished. He didn't look happy with me.

"What? Are you thinking I might like him better?" I held up my hand and pointed to the ring he gave me. "I'm married remember?"

We continued to bicker about it but he finally agreed to track the vampire. I couldn't really tell myself why it mattered so much. I had just been starved of real communication with someone for a while. And he didn't seem like a bad vampire.

He just wanted a friend, that's all.

When the sun finally set, I let James lead the way. He caught the trail almost instantly. I kept my mouth shut as we cornered him. I wasn't sure where we were, borders didn't seem to mean much to me. He had gone for a swim in a lake. I had the feeling that this was like déjà vu for James.

"Let's not scare him again." I suggested.

"So we steel his clothes?" James pointed to the pile of fabric on a large rock.

"No just wait for him there."

So we waited for a long time. It seemed like to me he was trying to drown himself.

"Maybe we should go check on him." I suggested more than once.

"Victoria, he can't drown if that's what your thinking. He doesn't have to breathe remember."

"I know but still…." I trailed off.

James suggested more than once that we leave and forget about this. Then I reminded him that we had all the time in the world.

Finally, the vampire emerged from the lake. He was halfway out before he spotted us.

"Hello." He said apprehensively.

"Hello." I responded. James sighed beside me. "My name is Victoria and this is my mate James. Were vampires, just like you."

"Vampires?" He asked. "I'm not sure that I know what you're talking about." He came the rest of the way out of the water and I adverted my eyes until he had his clothes on.

"We saw you attack that human." I told him.

"How do you know for sure if I'm a vampire?" He pulled at a loose thread on his collar like he was barely interested. "And how would I know that you are one."

Suddenly my brilliant plan didn't seem so brilliant. "I… well…."

"Easy." James stood up. "We saw you glint in the sun, and Victoria saw your eyes."

"They were red but now there black because you fed on that human's blood." I piped up at the end.

"Hum…." He walked around us as if to study us. "I suppose your right. But why did you announce yourself to me? I could have easily killed you. Humans aren't supposed to know about us."

"That's why you killed her before she could run away?" I asked.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" He countered.

"You asked her if she wanted to be like you, when she said no you had to kill her before she could tell anyone else about you."

James interrupted the two of us. "How come the humans aren't supposed to know about us?"

"Have you never heard of the Volturi?" He asked. When we both shook our heads no, he explained. "The Volturi are sort of like the royalty of the vampire world, their sole purpose is to make sure that the humans stay oblivious to the existence of vampires. There are serious consequences for rule breakers." He told us more about the Volturi. It was so nice to be with another vampire for a change. James grew more and more irritated that the other vampire was spending all his time with me.

"Would you like to join us?" I asked. "We could use a companion like you."

"I would be delighted to." He turned to James. "If that is alright with everyone."

"Of course it is!" I said before James could answer. "What's your name?"

"Laurent Le Blanc." He bowed and kissed my hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

**It seems like James is a bit jealous! lol Please R&R I want to hear from you!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys I am back! I had a great weekend at my cousins wedding! I caught the bouquet, again... Anyway! I finished this on Saturday night but was to tired to post it so here it is! I think you may remember this moment from Eclipse! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Six: Second Thoughts

Laurent had been traveling with us for years. We were hiding out in Siberia after a hasty getaway in Bakal, when James spotted something else to track.

I was bored with it, I had seen about a centuries worth of his 'discoveries' and didn't want to help him track anything else. Laurent, on the other hand, was fascinated by it. It was the one thing we didn't agree on.

I had my sinking feeling that something was going to go wrong but no one else would listen to me. So I stayed back at the abandoned ski lodge we had come across while the boys went hunting.

It was starting to fall in on itself but that was no concern of mine. It actually made it less noticeable to humans. They wouldn't come anywhere close to a building in this shape for fear of it collapsing.

But I was also longing to meet a human. Though I once was one, I couldn't remember a lot. My human memories seemed to be fading. I couldn't remember things that I ought to. Like the smell of the first good summer rain storm, or how I used to play in the laundry that was hanging from… what was it hanging from?

I had never been upset with James for saving me, though he regretted it in the beginning. My mother and I wanted such different things for me that I was happy to give it all up to spend eternity with him, I didn't think I would miss anything. But lately, I was beginning to miss my memories.

I felt like my memories told me who I was. Victoria Evans felt like a stranger to me. It had been so long, I didn't even know if she still existed. She didn't, she died a long time ago at the age of 21, drowning… I think that's what the paper said. I wonder if they found her body….

_Get a grip!_ I told myself. I was loosing the person I used to be. But did that really matter? I was with James, how many times had I dreamed of that when I was little? Hoping he would come back for me.

Now that I had it, I wasn't sure if that's what I wanted anymore.

As I sat down and thought about it, the more I thought about all the things I missed. Like weddings, funerals, coming out parties. I missed seeing my friend's children being born and growing before my eyes, changing in a way that I would never be able to.

I suddenly envied them all. They could have other things that I would, and could, never have. I was so angry that I slammed my fist against one of the support beams. It snapped in half and part of the roof came crashing down on me. I rolled neatly out of the way. I had to get out of here before the lodge collapsed, whether by its own power or mine.

If James wanted to find me bad enough, he could just track me like he does everything else.

I ran to the most populated part of Russia, I don't remember what the city was named. Everyone was wrapped up in big, furry, winter outfits and I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, ragged jeans, and no shoes. When you're a thief, you take what you can get.

The pedestrians gave me an odd look as they crossed paths with me. Most of them stopped at my face. I didn't understand it when they adverted their eyes until I saw my reflection in a glass window. I looked murderously angry. I really wanted to kill James, and then myself, but I would feel bad about killing James. Maybe I could find a way to kill myself. I would trade anything to have died ages ago then live this half-existence.

I decided to go hunting.

I picked out a female at about my age, physically, and lured her down an alley. I put my hand over her mouth so her terrified screams wouldn't be heard by anyone near. Though I had never done it before, I wanted to be sadistic about it. I wanted to take my revenge out on this young innocent female human. If I had more self control, I would have allowed her to become one of us so I could have someone to confide in who knew exactly how it felt to have their life cut short, or a mate for Laurent at the least.

I was done with the frail human in minutes, yet wasn't satisfied. Rather than going on a killing spree in the town, I settled for going out into the wilderness to cool down.

For a while, it felt like being at home. The trees were protective, secretive. But the more I thought about home, the less I could remember about it. My anger simmered as I stomped through the knee-deep snow.

I slammed into something rock solid. I looked up and it was James.

"Where have you been?" He nearly growled at me. "We went back to the lodge and you weren't there."

"I decided to go for a walk." And a feast, I amended. "Did you find that stupid whatever you were tracking?" I was more than annoyed with him, everything at the moment.

"We tracked down a werewolf and killed it." James held up the pelt for me to see. "I thought that since you didn't have a coat you should have one. We'll go into town tomorrow and have a taxidermist fix it."

"Thanks." I said, though I wouldn't be welcome in town probably. "I really appreciate it." I smiled

"Your welcome." He smiled back. "Come on, we've got to find Laurent. He's searching for you to."

We eventually found Laurent in the eastern part of the forest. He followed us back to the ski lodge.

"It looks like half the place is caved in." Laurent commented.

"Yea." James agreed with him.

I didn't respond. I was looking at the old record player that was set up in the corner of the room.

"I wonder if that plays." I said as I walked over to it. Alright it's a long-shot I'll admit, but I really wanted some sense of normalcy, if it even existed for our kind anymore.

It was covered in dust from neglect. There was no record in it but that wouldn't have mattered, the needle was broken. I turned back to the guys and shrugged. We all went about doing our own solitary things. James would go and see if there was anything worth tracking outside, Laurent would search our surroundings for anything interesting, and lately, I would just space out, almost like sleeping, but I was still alert.

I wondered if this was all we would amount to. Life as a vampire was starting to loose the excitement that it once held. I found the same routine boring and repetitive. I needed something, some interruption from the dreary snails pace we traveled at.

I suddenly jumped up and bolted for the forest.

**Well... Is someone having second thoughts? haha See you guys later!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys.. sorry its been a while since I've updated! I have been so busy lately! I had so much fun writing this chapter... well not the beginning but the middle and end. I hope you guys like it too! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! **

Chapter seven: Back to Civilization

"Victoria?" I heard them calling after me but I kept running. It was nice to have some fun around here. We never had fun anymore.

"Catch me if you can!" I yelled behind me. I zipped through the trees and bounded over rivers. I could hear them behind me now. They didn't seem to know what I was doing. I risked a look behind me and zeroed in on them.

They both had identical confused faces but Laurent at least was smiling. He was the farthest behind with James closer to me than I thought. _Not a chance!_ I thought as I jumped up and swung onto a tree limb. Then I cut a flip and landed behind both of them.

"Where did she go?" Laurent called.

"I don't know." James, for the first time in his life, sounded unsure.

I crept up as noiselessly as I could. Then, when I was directly above them, I jumped on top of James.

"Gotcha!" I giggled like I was five again. I kissed the top of his head as he whipped around looking for who was on his back. Finally he grabbed my shirt and threw me off of him.

"James." Laurent scolded. "She was only having fun."

"I don't have time for 'having fun'." James fumed at Laurent.

"What do you have time for then James?" I shouted at him.

"What?" He turned to me incredulously.

"You heard me." I growled. I didn't wait for his answer, I just lunged at him and we began to wrestle as Laurent just watched us sadly.

This was the angriest I had ever seen James. He growled fiercely, punched and slapped. All those years of holding in were coming out of me in this one epic fight. Laurent neither helped nor defended either of us. This was a good thing, one I didn't want him to get hurt, and two that meant he didn't show a preference to either one of us.

If one killed the other, Laurent would still be committed to the group. He was just along with us for the convenience, I know, but I also hoped that he would someday find his mate. He had been alone all those years before we met, he deserved to find someone.

I finally convinced myself to stop fighting with James because of that reason, we both needed each other and fighting wouldn't do us any good. So I let him slam me into a tree and didn't fight back, though he wasn't anywhere near finished. He was glad to finally find an opponent who was his equal.

Laurent finally moved to restrain him.

"She has surrendered." Laurent pointed out.

After Laurent let him go, James stalked off deeper into the forest.

"Just give him some time Victoria." Laurent suggested when he saw that I was about to go after him. "Come on, you left your pelt back there." he reached out for my hand and we ran back to the lodge.

James came back three hours later. The stars were shooting across the sky. 'Meteor shower' that's what I heard someone say long ago. 'No.' his wife told him. 'There shooting stars.'

"I'm sorry." James apologized to both of us. "I was wrong to have acted that way."

"It's ok." Laurent put a comforting hand on James's shoulder.

"Can I apologize?" I asked timidly. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I've been going through some stuff lately and we were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I'm just glad that you can fight like that." James commented. "I was starting to think you were too ladylike for all this boys stuff." James and Laurent laughed.

I rolled my eyes but was glad that the worst was over with.

We finally made it out of Russia, with no one noticing that I had killed that girl.

. . .

After that first fight we had, I grew fiercer and less 'girly', as James had put it. I started picking fights with any other vampire we crossed, and I always won. When ever we would hunt, we would take whatever the person was wearing or carrying, adding insult to injury. I could tell that mine and James's ways were starting to wear on Laurent. But he kept his complaints to himself and went along with whatever we were doing. But I was too far gone to have any sympathy for him, either he loved it or not, I didn't care.

I felt like there was something pulling me. Like a drive, like one of James's kicks. I just felt like I really needed to go back home.

I had finally convinced James that going back home was a good idea. I wanted to show Laurent where James and I had grown up.

"Since we got to see your hometown." I said before we plunged into the water.

Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of the continent.

"I think were somewhere up north." Laurent said as we decided where to go. "We could hunt during the day up here."

I smiled. It had been so long since I was out during the day. We couldn't go out because of the Volturi's constant presence. But in the northern countries, we could be out during the day and not look like a glowing disco ball.

"Well there's a welcome center." James pointed to the big building in the distance. "We can at least find out where we are before we start planning where we going."

We finally figured out that we were in a place I had never heard of, Seattle Washington.

"Well if we can stay out during the day." Laurent suggested. "Maybe we can stay at an hotel. That way our prey comes to us."

James was leery, as was I. It had been a while since we had stayed anywhere near heavily populated places such as this. But the good thing was we could hunt here without drawing much attention to ourselves. Humans disappeared on a daily basis, no one would notice. But I knew what Laurent really wanted to do. He was so desperate to find a mate that he would risk exposure to find her. I didn't ask him but I was sure.

"I don't like it." James finally said. "Victoria, what do you think?" He always turned to me like he always did.

"I don't feel anything." At least not what he was concerned with.

"Well I suppose so." James decided. "It will be nice to clean up." He appraised my outfit and rough hair. "I suppose a trip to the barber wouldn't hurt either."

Our eyes were blacker today so we wouldn't attract attention that way. Even with that advantage, and the fact that we looked like death warmed over, we still attracted attention. The woman all looked at Laurent and James like they were gods sent from above. Laurent looked almost hopeful, thinking his mate was out among these mortals.

I put my hands around James's arm. I didn't like the way the women were looking at him. And by the way they were looking at me they knew I wasn't going to share.

Unfortunately, I had to go into a salon alone. The boys went to a barber shop further up the street. These were one of those times that I too wished that Laurent had a mate. It was uncomfortable to see the looks on all the woman's faces as I walked in.

I tried to be alluring, unsuccessfully, as I approached the counter.

"Do you think I could get a trim?" I asked the very fashion forward clerk.

"Honey, you need more than a trim." He said as he put down his nail file. "We need Ramona over here!" he called out.

"Did someone call for Ramona?" A loud voice came from upstairs. We all looked up to see the woman who spoke. She wore expensive clothing and had hair that looked like a bee hive that Donald Trump would build. When she spotted me, she let out a cry.

"Sweet Jesus!" she descended the stairs slowly. "What happened to you girl?"

"I've been back packing," I replied. They looked at me furtively. "with my husband." I added. "He's really outdoorsy."

Ramona eyed me again with a practiced eye. "Alright." She finally said. "Follow me."

After an unpleasant three hours in the salon, I was finally able to leave.

They broke nearly twenty combs trying to untangle my wild locks but managed to make the curls behave. She wanted to cut it but something about the way I looked at her made her rethink that.

In all my years of being a vampire, I had never considered myself vain. But I didn't want to loose even an inch of my hair. It was sort of my protection. I could hide my face so others wouldn't be able to read my emotions.

"Good bye honey!" Ramona called out the door. "Be sure to tell everyone that you look that way because of me!"

I rolled my eyes as I walked quickly towards the barber shop where James and Laurent were. But they were no where to be found. I tried to be discreet about trying to smell them out but I got a few awkward glances. I eventually tracked them down at a convenience store. James was trying to give Laurent a pep talk.

"Just go and talk to her." James gave Laurent a little push.

"I don't know…." Laurent seemed unsure.

"What are you trying to talk him into now?" I asked though it was unmistakably obvious.

"He wants to try his hand at speed dating: the vampire edition." James smiled at me. His hair had been cropped short, like he was getting ready to join the human military. The thought made me giggle. James dressed in camouflage from head to toe. That would be right up his alley if he were still human.

Laurent was fussing with one of his dark dreadlocks. What was that look on his face, nervousness? I had never seen such a human reaction on a vampire, but then again, Laurent was the only one among us who still retained part of his humanity, could still see them as people. I looked at the girl in question. She was putting gas in her car.

"She looks nice." I told him. "You should go talk to her." I encouraged.

"I really don't think that's a good idea." He hesitated. "Don't you remember France?"

"Man that was a century ago." James reminded him. "The times have changed. I bet she's never even heard of you-know-what." He only said it that way because there were human's around. Laurent made no other move except to fuss with that same lock of hair. I decided it was time to act

"If you aren't going to talk to her, then I am." I walked towards the human as if I were one as well.

"Victoria!" Laurent hissed far to low for the unsuspecting humans to hear.

"Hi." I said when I was close enough. My eyes were dark enough that they wouldn't attract attention. Though it meant that I was thirsty but I made myself focus on the task at hand.

Her eyes widened before she spoke in a timid voice. "Hello." She was eyeing my wolf-skin jacket curiously.

"My name is Victoria." I offered her my hand.

"Alyssa." She took it and was surprised, as they all are, by the coldness of my skin.

"You see those guys over there?" I pointed over my shoulder to where James and Laurent were standing. He was trying to act casual about it, but James had his hand on Laurent's shoulder, keeping him there.

"Yeah…." She answered seeming unsure of where our conversation was going.

"Well the one with brown hair is my boyfriend." I clarified first, trying not to frighten her with the possessiveness that I had for James. "And the other is our friend Laurent. He mentioned to us that he was interested in you, but he was afraid of coming over here and talking to you, so I interceded on his behalf." I hopped she understood what I was saying. I had to focus to keep my 'slang' in the appropriate time frame.

"Really?" She didn't seem surprised by that, which confused me. "Well, _everyone_ thinks of me that way!" She was completely a selfish person, thinking only of herself.

I didn't want someone like her to spend the rest of eternity with, unless she and Laurent decided to go there own way…. I hesitated for a second. Did I really want Laurent to leave? Or was I selfish too?

Regardless, she wasn't good enough for him. She took the pump out of the car and put it back in its place before she turned back to me.

"You can give him my number and I'll see if he's my type or not." she scribbled her number on a piece of paper and handed it to me. I took it and resisted the urge to snap her neck.

"I'll see what I can do." I hissed, completely loosing my grip on the human charade. She cringed away from me as I turned away from her. I balled up the piece of paper and shoved it in the pocket of the black jeans I was wearing. The black shoes I had 'borrowed' were getting uncomfortable too. I missed the feel of the earth beneath my soles. As soon as we were on our way again, I would abandon them.

"What did she give you?" Laurent asked speculatively.

"Oh, she just gave me a number of a personal stylist." I lied, malice building in my voice. "She doesn't like the latest fashion in _our_ style."

"Well it's probably for the best Laurent." James consoled him. The look on his face made me almost tell him the truth… almost.

We decided to go up to Vancouver, as Laurent had suggested earlier. He was interested in tracking down some of his human family, much the same as I wanted. We hunted just outside of the Seattle limits and after that we headed towards British Columbia.

**I think you all know whats coming next! I cant wait! And I have reached that part in Twilight again as I'm rereading it again... for the millionth time... X_x Click the button down below to receive your reward! A cyber hug from me to you! X3**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm gonna be short, sweet, and to the point, I hope you guys like this! I realized, after I started rereading this part in Twilight that I shot myself in the foot on the last chapter... O_o I'm sorry... Most of this is paraphrased from chapter 18 of Twilight, just from Victoria's pov.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Eight: The Beginning of the End

"Where are we?" I asked as we ran through the thick and dense forests of Washington.

"I'm not sure." Laurent said. "Let's stop and look at the map."

We all stopped abruptly and Laurent took out the map he stole at the welcome center in Seattle.

"Best I can figure is that were somewhere along here." He pointed at a small dot labeled 'Forks, Wa'

"Do you smell that?" James said. Laurent and I both sniffed at the air.

At first all I could smell was a reeking wet dog smell that almost made me nauseous. But then I could defiantly smell something familiar.

"A vampire?" I asked hopefully. Maybe it was a female, so Laurent could finally have someone to love.

"Yea and a lot of them." James said in a quiet tone.

"A whole coven?" Laurent asked in an awed tone, like he had seen or smelled one before.

"I think so. Let's go have a look see." James had that glint in his eye that I knew all too well. I sighed as we followed the scent trail.

As we got closer we could hear loud booming noises, like thunder. I looked towards the sky, and it looked gloomy, but if it was thunder, it should be getting quieter, not louder.

"Someone else is making those noises." I told them, speaking my suspicions.

"I thought that as well." James agreed with me.

"They must be playing some sort of game." Laurent guessed. "Only vampires, or insane people, would be playing a game during a storm."

"I think those two traits coincide every once in a while." James said.

"It will be nice to have a game with them." I itched to have some real fun.

While we were running, we heard a pause in the playing, maybe they had decided to stop for the day. Disappointment flooded through me. I knew this would be a set back for Laurent as well, he was so looking forward to seeing some of his own kind.

But then the action picked back up again, though they weren't playing with much enthusiasm it seemed.

My 'sixth sense' gave me an uneasy feeling. I pushed away that knowledge and concentrated on finding a mate for Laurent. I tried fixing my hair but it had already got leaves tangled back up in it.

We slowed down and we could make out voices now.

"I'm sorry, Bella." I heard a male voice say. "It was stupid, irresponsible, to expose you like this. I'm so sorry."

What would this vampire have to be angry about? Maybe this Bella was his mate and he was referring to her being a newborn? I highly doubted that. But I didn't make my suspicions known this time, we were too close.

We all saw them turn to stare at us. Eight in total, all perfectly matched. I could feel Laurent's disappointment but his face didn't betray him. According to previous planning, James and I fell back, letting Laurent take the lead. I was cautious of these vampires. I had never seen more than two together in one place at one time that had me on edge.

We approached them cautiously. They had all moved together around a small diamond, ah, they had been playing baseball, a game I knew well.

I took in their polished 'civilized' look of their leader. He wore a traditional baseball uniform and his blonde hair was carefully brushed away from his face. These creatures were like us, but foreign to me. How could they live just like their prey? I guess I'll have to endure this soon. James would jump at the chance to blend in with his prey. I repressed the urge to roll my eyes.

Their leader was joined by two of the younger males in the coven. One was brawny and had curly brown hair. The other had honey blonde hair and was less muscular than the other one. This one caught my particular attention, he was covered in scars. I had never seen a vampire with scars before. The closer we got the more they looked like bite wounds, whoever this vampire was he wasn't a stranger to violence.

Laurent smiled an easy smile to sort of break the ice. My sixth sense flared again and I took it into consideration this time. I looked at every face in their group and my own, wondering who would not be leaving here alive.

Then I noticed their eyes. They were an odd shade of yellow, except for one. She was the farthest one from me, her eyes were dark but I couldn't tell what color they were.

Laurent stepped forward, and began speaking.

"We thought we heard a game." He said in a relaxed voice. "I'm Laurent, and these are Victoria and James." He gestured to us, making introductions.

"I'm Carlisle." The leader spoke. "This is my family, Emmett and Jasper," He pointed to the two males behind him. "Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella." He pointed to the group farther back.

I saw shock cross the girl's face in the back when he said 'Bella'. So this must be the Bella from before. She must have been a newborn. She looked like she was only a few days old. Interesting, though I couldn't be certain, I had never seen one up close.

"Do you have room for three more players?" Laurent asked sociably.

The leader, Carlisle, matched Laurent's casual tone. "Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning to stay in the area for long?"

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighborhood. We haven't run into any company in a long time."

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves."

Then all of a sudden, the tense atmosphere evaporated, leaving only calmness behind. As much as this disturbed me, I couldn't feel anything other than being calm. Did these vampires have powers like James and I?

"What's your hunting range?" Laurent casually inquired. I could only guess that he was looking for a mate and wanted to tag along on one of their hunting parties. Though something told me that they didn't hunt the way we did.

"The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence near by. There's another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali."

Laurent rocked back on his heels. That's where he had thought some of his family was. I could almost feel his joy at finding a long lost relative that had been changed. Apparently a lot of his family was changed into vampires. If he found them, maybe he wouldn't be lonely anymore.

"Permanent?" He asked curiously. He was always interested in how different vampires lived. "How do you manage that?"

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably?" Carlisle invited. "It's a rather long story."

James and I exchanged a surprised look at the mention of the word 'home'. We had never had a home. It was oddly disorienting. But Laurent was more used to the word than we were.

"That's very interesting, and welcome." His smile was friendly. "We've been on the hunt all the way up from Seattle."

Carlisle's face turned serious. "Please don't take offense, but we would appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuously, you understand."

Well, maybe their hunting style wasn't as different as ours.

"Of course." Laurent nodded. "We certainly wont encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle anyway." He laughed, expecting them to join in.

They were all still as statues, except for the girl named Bella. She shivered, I guessed she was like I was before I got used to feeding off humans.

"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us – Emmett and Alice, you can go with Edward and Bella to get the jeep."

Four things happened simultaneously as their leader spoke. Bella's hair ruffled in the slight breeze, the vampire closest to her stiffened, another vampire with short and spiky black hair's eyes were unfocused, and James whipped his head around, scrutinizing the girl, his nostrils flaring.

The tense atmosphere was back with a vengeance as all the vampires crouched into attack mode. The vampire, who was obviously the girls mate, bared his teeth at James. Snarls were tearing their way out of his chest.

"What's this?" Laurent exclaimed. I finally caught the scent, she was a human? My eyes darted to every vampire in their tight circle before examining the human girl in the back. Who were these creatures? Their existence was baffling to me.

James moved slightly to the side, and the human's vampire moved in response. I could sense a fight brewing. I could tell that this vampire was strong, but not as strong as the other males in the group. He would surely loose in a battle against James, I was confident in that, Laurent and I would defend James from the others, I could see the plan forming in my head already.

"She's with us." The leader's rebuff was firm and was directed towards James.

"You brought a snack?" Laurent asked, incredulous as he took an involuntary step forward. How easily fascinated he was. But the other vampire snarled even more ferociously and harshly. His lip curled high above his glistening, bared teeth. Laurent sensed the danger and took a step back.

"I said she's with us." The leader was quick to correct him.

"But she's _human_," Laurent was still fascinated by this simple fact.

"Yes." The strongest one replied. His eyes were on James.

James slowly straightened out of his crouch, but his eyes never left the human girl's. The other vampire stayed tensed in front of the human. This was entirely confusing to me. I couldn't understand why he would protect this human, unless it was his late night bite or something.

"It appears we have a lot to learn about each other." Laurent tried to make his tone soothing, trying to defuse the sudden hostility.

"Indeed." The leader's voice was still cool.

"But we'd like to accept your invitation." I was sure this _we'd _was more like _I'd_. "And, of course, we will not harm the human girl. We won't hunt in your range, as I said."

James glanced at Laurent like he was mad. Then he glanced at me, probably wondering what my sixth sense was telling me. But I was still looking at everyone else, trying to find out what kind of creatures they were.

The leader hesitated. "We'll show you the way. Jasper, Rosalie, Esme?" he called.

The three vampires he called joined him. The black haired vampire was at the human's side instantly, the other retreated slowly, his eyes never leaving James.

"Let's go Bella." The reddish-brown haired vampire's voice was low and bleak.

It looked like the human was rooted in place, staring at us with terror screaming from her eyes. She should be afraid of us, we were dangerous. As was the company she kept.

The three vampires half carried her away from us. The rest of us waited until they were left.

"I really am just honestly curious." Laurent said. He was the only one who was still calm. "I didn't mean to offend you. I am only interested in how others of our kind live."

"Speak for yourself." James nearly growled. I knew how he could get when his prey eluded him.

"It's alright." Carlisle smiled tensely. He seemed bound on this ending peacefully. "But we would ask that your friend there keep his distance from the girl."

"I think we need a moment to confer." Laurent suggested.

"Of course." Carlisle replied. His coven also grouped around in a circle. The honey blonde haired vampire never let us out of his sight.

"What are you thinking?" James hissed at Laurent. "You can't possibly expect me to go there knowing that that _human_ will be with them."

"I really want to go. I don't think you could harm that human." Laurent disagreed.

"No way, did you see the way that vampire defended her?" James pointed out. "That whole clan would do anything to keep her alive." I noticed that particular gleam in his eye again. I really did roll my eyes this time.

"James please don't make this into another one of your stupid games." I pleaded with him. We nearly didn't make it out of the last one.

"Don't you see?" He also pleaded with me. "This is the perfect opportunity. We have a clan of strong vampires all surrounding an invulnerable element. This is the chance you've been waiting for."

I stared at him incredulously.

"You were the one who said we never had fun anymore." He stated. This was true but it wasn't exactly the kind of 'fun' I was hoping for.

But I could see his logic working on me. It was the perfect set up. All we had to do was get them separated….

"All right." I sighed. "I'm in." we both looked at Laurent.

"I am truly embarrassed by the both of you. I'm not going to fight with you James." Laurent started to back away from us. "Nor will I fight against you. These vampires are unlike anything I've ever seen before. My curiousness is almost as obsessive as your tracking. I'm sorry but this is goodbye."

We both stared in shock as Laurent turned away from us and back towards the other coven.

"This isn't over!" James growled as he took me by the arm and we stalked off in the opposite direction.

As soon as we were in the cover of the trees, we broke into a run.

**Well I'm off to write chapter 20 of my other fanfic! Hope you guys go check it out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I must say thanks to the awsome band Evanescence for writing such great music! I think Victoria has a new theme band! X3 I hope you guys enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! Tha fab Stephanie Meyer does!**

Chapter Nine: Separation

"I can't believe he would do this to us." I whispered, shocked.

"You were the one who wanted him to leave." James growled at me. His anger flared up my own.

"Yes, I wanted him to find a mate. Not go running off with a bunch of lunatic vampires who keep human's as pets!" I shot back letting acid leak into my voice.

"I have to think of a way to get that girl alone…." James stared of in speculation.

I ran faster than he did so that I could stop him in his tracks.

"Are you insane?" I screamed at him. "You saw how they acted around her and what Laurent said. They would do anything to keep her alive."

"That's my point." James acted like I was missing something obvious. "Let's have a bit of fun with them on this. I'm pretty sure they'll send out a hunting party to find me, to keep their precious human safe, so I'll lead them on a false trail, while you try and figure out where their keeping the human."

"This is ridiculous James." I put my hands on both sides of his face. "You are taking this tracking thing to an extreme."

"You don't understand Victoria." He pushed me away. "This isn't something I can control. I have to kill the human girl, it's an obsession. I won't stop until she's dead. I can't stop." He sounded desperate on that last part.

"Yes you can James." It felt like if I could cry, I would. I had never seen him so helpless. "We can go as far away from here as possible and we won't have to hurt anyone!"

He stared at me incredulously. "What? Are you developing some kind of attachment to the humans?"

"No." I said. His eyes turned towards speculation.

"Or are you starting to get soft on me?" He continued to provoke me. "You used to be so much fun Red." I was shocked when he used my old nickname. "I miss that girl, where did you take her?"

"I'm right here." I growled. He was crossing lines he knew he shouldn't cross.

"Then do as I say and don't ask questions!" He got right in my face. I had never seen him this angry either. He started to walk away from me, I was frozen in shock. "I'll follow the jeep." He said quietly. "You trail that traitor, and I'll meet you there."

He disappeared in a blur and I turned back to follow Laurent's scent. I found it easily and kept my pace far behind them. While I was running, I had time to think.

Did James really mean what he said? Was I different? I thought I was the same girl he knew from before I was changed. I wasn't even sure I knew who she was anymore. So did that mean that James was different? Had I been blinded by my love for him that I didn't see the monster he had turned out to be?

_Don't say that._ A little voice in my head told me. _He loves you, and you love him. You're not the monsters, they are! They have strange eyes, and don't act the way a normal vampire does. You and James are normal, they're the freaks. And now they have brainwashed Laurent into thinking the way they do._

I talked myself out of my unsure attitude and was now angry that these strange vampires had reached out and stolen my friend.

It was easy enough to find the house. It was an odd house for a coven of vampires to live in. The back of the house was made entirely of glass. I could see every room in the house but only one in particular held my interest now.

The three vampires that went with the human had crashed into the living room and were glaring at Laurent. It made my dead heart swell with sadness at the thought that I may have to kill Laurent if he takes their side.

"He's tracking us," I could hear one of them saying.

I could make out Laurent's voice as if he was standing next to me. "I was afraid of that."

The dark haired female vampire flashed over to her mate and they both ran upstairs. I could see them assembling clothes in a suitcase, probably for the girl but I didn't have time to focus on that.

"What will he do?" The leader asked Laurent in chilling tones.

"I'm sorry." He answered. "I was afraid when your boy their defended her, that it would set him off."

"Can you stop him?"

I held my breath for his answer. I was relieved when he shook his head.

"Nothing stops James when he gets started." He told the truth, I had witnessed that for myself.

"We'll stop him." The muscular one promised. I growled as I realized what he meant.

"You can't bring him down." Laurent disagreed with him. "I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years." Strange, I had never heard Laurent talk about how old he was. "He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven."

I was hurt, I thought he joined the coven because I had asked him to and he was craving companionship.

Laurent shook his head and looked at the frail human girl then he glanced back at the leader. "Are you sure it's worth it?"

The youngest vampire, the human's mate, snarled loudly, it probably would have shattered the glass wall if it wasn't so thick. Laurent cringed and for one panicked second, I thought he was going to be killed.

The leader looked grave. "I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice."

Laurent looked speculatively at his surroundings. "I'm intrigued by the life you have created here. But I won't get into the middle of this." Relief again that he didn't want to fight with them or against us. "I bear none of you any enmity, but I won't go up against James. I think I'll head north – to that clan in Denali." He hesitated. I was glad that he was going to get away from here. Once the girl was dead, James would go after him. If he asked me if I knew where he was, would I be able to lie convincingly enough to save him? "Don't underestimate James." He said as if he were speaking to me. "He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head on…." I was sure of that. He would feint and run, just like he always did. Now he was dragging me along the same obsessed pattern. Would it ever end? "I'm sorry for what has been unleashed here. Truly sorry." He said, echoing my thoughts. He bowed to them all.

"Go in peace." The leader said formally.

Laurent had another look around before he darted out the back door straight towards me.

He bounded over the river and stopped just as soon as he was under the cover of the forest. He smirked. "Of course, I shouldn't be surprised to find you here." He looked directly at me.

I sighed as I jumped out of the tree I was hiding in and landed right in front of him.

"James is tracking them now." Laurent told me, his coldness frightened me.

"I heard." Shock broke into my voice.

"You know what will happen now." He whispered. "You're sixth sense surely told you this would happen."

"It did, but I had other things on my mind." I whispered back. "Please don't go Laurent."

"Are you kidding?" Laurent said a little louder. "James is going to kill me for deserting him."

"I guess your right." I sighed.

Laurent came closer to me he brushed my hair out of my face. "You could come with me." He said wistfully.

"I can't he would go after us both."

"But we could be together." Laurent tried to paint the picture for me. "You know as well as I do that you have nothing in common with him. You know that I have always loved you." I stared at him in surprise. "Oh come on now." He smiled. "You know it as much as I do."

It was true that I had developed feelings for him, but not as deep as his were.

"Laurent, I do love you, but as a brother." I took his hand away from my face. "James is the one I love. I don't want to be with anyone else but him." I was so hell-bent on finding him a mate that I didn't realize that he was falling in love with me.

The look on Laurent's face told me that my words had hurt him. He had just professed that he loved me and I was sitting here rejecting him.

"If that's your decision then." He started to pull away from me. I felt a pang of sadness as he did that.

"Be safe." I whispered after him. I prayed that he would get far enough away that James wouldn't ever find him.

Laurent disappeared into the darkness, and then I was alone. I tried not to let the sadness take over. James would surely be upset with me if I told him what had happened.

Speaking of, he should have been here by know, what was he doing?

I took advantage of the aloneness and focused on what Laurent had said and what I had overheard in the house. Laurent had informed them well about James's tactics. Would we be as well informed?

I looked towards the house now. Huge metal shutters replaced the wall of glass, they had a security system. Unfortunately I could no longer see or hear what was going on in the house. Laurent had said that James and I had nothing in common, was that true? I tried to remember back to those early days in our relationship. But I couldn't find them. It was like all my human memories were gone. But did I really want to remember the good person I used to be. I was a monster now, I had killed innocent people, and I had followed James on this murderous path without even considering the consequences. I should have known when I found out that he had murdered Cecily that he was evil. But I was so blinded by my affections for him that I justified it by letting him tell me that she was the evil one. Did that make me evil now that I had followed him, that I had trusted him to never hurt me? And most importantly, what was I going to do about it?

James interrupted my thoughts.

"Is the traitor with them?" Was the first think he asked me. Not are you ok? Did you have any trouble following them? His question reminded me of how a general would order around his soldiers, not how two lovers should speak to each other. I pushed away such thoughts and answered him.

"No, he left about an hour ago." I stared at the house as I lied to him.

"What I wouldn't give to have him close." James said murderously now. "I would tear him limb from limb." He refocused his thoughts. "Did you find anything out?"

"They know that you're tracking them. They must have extra senses like you and I do, like mind reading or something."

"Are you sure?" James had never questioned my judgment before.

"They burst through the door with her and shouted 'he's tracking us.'" I tried not to let my irritation break through my voice. Apparently he was too far gone to register that. "I think they know."

He muttered to himself, like I wasn't even there.

"What do we do now?" I asked after a minute.

"Well see what they do. I'm sure they won't let the girl out of their sight." He said as he started pacing. "And her mate won't let her go with anyone else. If he comes out of the house, I'll follow him. If anyone else leaves, you follow them."

"What if it's a ruse?" I knew these vampires were quirky but crafty as well.

"If it is, then we'll come back here to regroup." He finally decided. "We'll find out if there's any information on her that would explain where they may go."

We waited a little while longer before we saw the girl's mate and two of the other coven members. James started after them.

"The human isn't with them." I grabbed his shoulder.

"But I want to find out more about this vampire. I want to know how far I can push him. He's going to try and track me; I can feel it, but its time for the hunter to become the hunted." He pushed my hand away and ran after the big white Jeep that they all climbed into.

I suppressed my anger at him. Maybe we just needed time apart that seemed to work with other couples that we had ran into.

I didn't have much time to wait. James was right; they were leaving behind three members of their coven to hold down the fort. I watched as the human and the blonde vampire climbed into the truck, I ran after them without thinking.

Then the real game began.

**See you guys later! **


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry it has been so long guys! But I have had a really bad sunburn and couldnt bare to sit down and write! T_T I'm sorry everyone! So I made this chapter twice as long as the others! :D I really hope you enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Ten: Stranger

I followed the truck until they stopped for gas. I heard the blonde vampire speak first.

"Ugh, this truck is so slow!" She protested. "Where'd they get the parts to fix this thing?" She checked under the hood. "Wow, it looks like Frankenstein: the truck edition."

"Careful Rosalie." The human girl spoke. "And you could be a little less critical of Bella, I'm sure this was all her father could afford. But if you want, I'm sure she wouldn't mind borrowing your M3 for the weekend." The human turned so that I could see her face.

_Bella?_ I thought. I was mistaken before, the driver wasn't the human; she was one of them.

I stayed just a little bit longer, seeing if they knew where she was. James would be upset if I came back empty handed.

"Yea, sure." Rosalie said sarcastically. "I'm sure the little klutz would wreck it before she left the city limits."

"You could be a little bit more understanding about her Rosalie." The other vampire commented as she started filling up the car. "She really is plagued with some awful bad luck."

"Bad luck or just human nature?" Rosalie asked. "Esme I just don't like this, were bound to be discovered now and well have to move again. Humans are so predictable. I'm just glad I'm not going with Alice and Jasper."

Esme smiled. "You can't help it that Alice is fond of her as well."

"Yes, well as long as she stay's down wind from me. I'll be fine." If her coven member hadn't done this injustice to me I would have actually liked the blonde vampire named Rosalie.

I decided that that was all I was going to get out of them. I headed back to Forks looking for his sign.

James and I had a unique way of communicating when we were on these tracking games of his. It didn't take me long to cross into the city limits. I had to think about where this sign would be. I decided to start with where we separated. That would do two things; help me find the sign, and also seeing if the house was empty.

The house _was_ empty. I could tell that they had left just seconds after I did with the human. So she must be with them, wherever they are.

I started towards the back of the house towards the forest I jumped the river in one bound then found his scent easily. I ran for about a mile or two until I found it. The dorkey key chain that he stole from some little kid was hanging from a tree limb. I took it off and found the note attached to the back of it.

_Victoria: If you've found this then I'm guessing that the human girl wasn't with them. These vampires are tricky, but we can take them! I want you too start digging, go to her school, her house, and go anywhere that she may have frequented recently. Find out everything you can about her. If I can't go to her, I'll make her come to me._

I sighed as I stuck the note and key chain into my pocket.

The key chain wasn't the only sign that he had. The sign would be anything that he had collected his trophies as it were.

I decided to start by searching for her scent in other areas of the town. She was in school, probably in the high school, I would check there first.

I understood why these vampires chose this place to live in. There was nothing but ominous clouds stretching from horizon to horizon. If James and I ever settled down, I would like to live somewhere like this.

I continued to think these things as I found her house. Her scent was the most potent here, as well as her vampire mate. He must have spent most of his time here. There was also the scent of another human male. So she must live with her father, I wondered where her mother was. I quickly scaled the side of the house and headed straight into her father's bedroom, thank goodness he was already gone. Who knows what he would have thought of seeing me climbing through his window. It was obvious that this part of the house was never seen by the girl. For one, her scent was weakest in this part of the house, and another, this room looked like it was decorated by a man.

One fishing trophy was sitting on the dresser, where clothes were supposed to be. They were scattered everywhere. The bed was made up untidily. And half of his closet was flannel and plaid.

I silently opened the door and explored the rest of the house. Her room was directly across the hall from his, I went there first. Her room wasn't exactly what I pictured a teenage girls room would be like. Although I'm sure much has changed since I was a teenager. There wasn't a trace of pink anywhere in this room. Her closet matched her fathers except there was less plaid. She had an ancient computer sitting on a desk. The vampire was right; the truck was probably all her father could afford. Everything in this room looked like a hand-me-down. I saw that she had her school books sprawled out across the desk. I guess she didn't have time to stack them neatly in her haste to get away from James. I opened one with numbers crawling against the cover. Trigonometry was the name of the subject, but it looked like a foreign language to me. They hadn't made much advancement in mathematics when I was in school, but this gave me what I needed. 'Property of Forks High School' was stamped on the inside front cover.

I walked down the stars into the kitchen. This was where her scent was the strongest, apart from her bedroom. I could barley smell his scent in here, this didn't surprise me since he didn't eat human food. But what did surprise me was that her fathers smell wasn't as strong in this room, he probably only came here to eat. Another thing about her clicked into place, she was the cook of the family, and her father was the hunter. His fishing gear was hanging up in the hall. The living room was the exact opposite of the kitchen. His scent was every where while hers was barley traceable. His scent was there as well but his was the weakest. It was plainly clear that he never ventured to the other rooms in the house. This was baffling to me but maybe James would have some insight on this.

I looked at the mantle and saw a yearly progression of the girl in pictures, from elementary up to last year. I could see how much she had changed, and envied her. She was still younger than I was when I changed, but I couldn't remember much from my human days, and yet, she had reminders of it. I quickly snuffed out the irrational emotions and moved on down to other pictures. There was one of two adults in a place called Las Vegas. I'm guessing they're her father and mother. And then the same couple was in a hospital room holding a baby, who I guessed was the girl. It was remarkable to me that they had a record of her life. I wished that the camera had been invented in my time. I had no record of my past life. I needed that record, I needed something to hold on to, something tangible. I walked out of the living room and to the door. I unlocked it, and then locked it back before closing it.

I had what I needed. I knew where she went to school. I tried to focus on what I had to do now.

I sighed as I broke into the neighbor's house. I hated getting down to this level of stealing, but there was no way that they would let me in a school looking like this.

The woman had gone to work hours ago. She made it easy for me; she had checked the place where she kept the spare key so that she could be sure it was still there. I checked the other houses around this house and they had gone to work as well. _Lucky for me_, I thought to myself.

I took the key from under the potted plant on the porch and opened the door. She had kept her house well, I had never seen such a neat freak before, or maybe it was because I had never truly lived this way, even as a human, or so I had thought. Like I said, those human memories were beginning to fade. Unlike this unfortunate girl who had perfect recollections and reminders.

I pushed away the thoughts and headed up to the bedroom. The neatness didn't stop downstairs. She must have no social life; she must clean her house daily. I hoped that I didn't stain the carpets.

I started with a shower, after I had picked most of the leaves out of my hair. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I had never been this clean. I could definitely get used to this, maybe these strange vampires were on to something.

I pulled my hair into a tight bun and ransacked her closet to find something business-like to wear. I found a dark grey blazer/skirt combination and a silk lavender blouse to go under it. I also picked out some black stiletto heels. I tried not to look at myself in the mirror. I was bound to look hideous. I had no experience in trying to dress myself. I usually just wore whatever I had stolen. I did sneak a peek at myself when I returned the key. The window wasn't as clear as a mirror so I couldn't see my face clearly.

Something was tugging on my memory, elusive because it was a memory from my human life. I was reminded of someone from before….

I didn't linger too long by the window. I had a job to do and I was wasting time.

It didn't take too long to find Forks high. The smell of teenage angst was almost as powerful as their blood.

I got a couple of stars, which didn't bother me as much as it used to. It was still new to me that our prey thinks of us as attractive. I decided that I wasn't going to help them along. I headed straight to the administrative building. I already had my story memorized. I had decided to play the role of one of the girl's father's friends.

I took a deep breath as I entered the front office. The red-headed secretary looked up as I came in. Shock broke through on her face but her voice was calm.

"Hello." She smiled brightly. "How may I help you?"

"My name is Chelsea Burke." I replied with the name from the internet. "I'm a friend of Charlie Swan."

The woman looked at me skeptically but let it pass. "My name is Mrs. Cope. And what brings you here?"

"Well it's been a while since I saw Charlie and I heard that his daughter had come to live with him. I was just wondering if I could see her."

Mrs. Cope's face fell the tiniest bit. "I'm afraid she didn't come to school today. Her father called and said she took off for Phoenix last night."

"What would be in Phoenix?" I wondered out loud.

"That's where her mother lives." Mrs. Cope told me with a look that told me I wasn't playing my part well.

"Of course." I tried to smile. "I should have known that, but like I said, its been a while since I saw him. I didn't even know he had gotten a divorce." I added truthfully. I sighed sympathetically. "They were such an adorable couple." Her glance shut me up. James would have killed me for my panicked rambling.

"Yes, Charlie was very distraught when Renee left." Mrs. Cope sighed.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that." I said as I stole a look around the room, I could hear one other frail human in an office in the back. I would have to bide my time until both of them left so I could check the records. That would involve more breaking and entering, but honestly at this point did it matter?

I left after that short conversation and stuck to the shadows. I thought about what James might be doing to make the time pass faster.

He might still be tracking the other vampires as they tracked him. I wondered where they would go. Maybe up towards Canada where Laurent was headed. I didn't have long to deliberate because I heard the two women leave the administration building. I could hear them muttering about the teacher's break room. Ah, they must be headed out for lunch, lucky for them I wasn't.

I searched for a roof top entrance first, that would be the last place they would look for a break in. Luck was with me, I found an air duct that I could fit into. I would ruin the clothes that I stole, but did that really matter anymore either?

I couldn't be bothered with such problems. I would think about that later when James was too busy with this stupid obsession to pay attention to me. A small voice that I hadn't heard from in a while reminded me of what Laurent had said. Did James and I have anything in common anymore, except for the blood-lust of the ghastly creatures that we were?

I had to make myself focus more as I entered the office. I found a promising file cabinet and went straight to work. Thankfully, the drawers were labeled. A through K was the first one. Followed by L through V. I stopped at that drawer, the girls last name was 'Swan' according to their mail box. But there was a problem, I had found the drawer but didn't have a way to open it.

_Figures the drawer would be locked._ The voice said, sounding clearer than I had ever remembered her to be. _You should just leave now before those ignorant humans come back._ She sounded sure of herself.

And something else occurred to me. I couldn't feel my sixth sense anymore, and that really terrified me.

But the voice was still there. She muttered incoherently, as I scrambled around for something to pick the lock with.

I froze when I heard the sounds of approaching footsteps.

_I told you so!_ She was smug.

I would have to be crafty. The filing cabinet was in a room that prevented the human students from seeing it. But how would I get the key from the secretary without being noticed?

"Well that was right depressing." I heard Mrs. Cope sighed as she settled back into her seat at the front desk, the other human lingered.

"Yes." The other human wheezed. I could tell she was an elderly woman, early 60's maybe? "Bryan always brings the worst company lunch. I can't wait till 3:30."

"You and I both Jenny." Mrs. Cope replied.

"My granddaughter is coming in this weekend." Jenny replied. I could hear the smile in her voice. "She's on her way to college."

"This is the second one off to college right?"

"Yes." Jenny smiled.

Hearing this conversation, I took pity on them, and not just them but the other humans as well.

I had never truly stopped to see destruction I was leaving behind me. How many husbands, wives, and children had I taken away from families? Had I taken away one of this Jenny's grandchildren?

The voice in my head agreed with my thoughts. _You're pretty terrible._ She added.

_Shut up._ I told her. I had to focus on my mission.

I distinctly heard the keys clinking on the counter. The pull was nearly irresistible.

_I wouldn't do that…_ The voice cautioned. _You're in enough trouble as it is!_

For some reason, I agreed with her. I did something that was completely reckless and stupid on my part. I climbed the wall and got onto the ceiling. My feet and fingers left small pinpricks in the ceiling but no one would notice. I stole through the air vent and out to the roof.

It was a strange feeling in the atmosphere. Like tangible excitement as the school day drew to a close. For one short second I wished that I could be like them. I peered down at them from my perch as they walked from building to building. I envied them all.

I wondered if any of the vampires were here or if they were all on the hunt, or escape. What story would they have told the humans? That they had skipped town? I highly doubted that, these vampires were crafty. At least no one suspected them, yet.

The secretary had said that she went back to her home in Phoenix. But could I really trust that? Would she have been just saying that so that no one would follow her, especially James and I?

My head whirled in answerless circles as I did a back flip off the roof and into the trees.

I showed off more of my acrobatic skills on the way back to where I found the keychain.

_You seem more at home here._ The now annoying voice commented as I continued on.

"Would you please stop talking to me?" I said aloud feeling like an idiot.

_You do kind of sound like an idiot._ She said as if she could hear my thoughts.

"Who are you?" I asked in an irritated tone.

_I'm your conscience of course._ She said brightly.

As soon as she said the word 'conscience' I saw her in my head, the person I used to be; the _human_ I used to be. I stopped dead in my tracks.

No longer a blood thirsty vampire following the orders of someone she had only just met. Someone who had compassion for the humans, who could sympathize with me, I knew of no other way to survive.

She smiled sadly at me as I considered these impossibilities.

_If you follow along with James, it will end badly for the both of you._ She saw the path to my destruction, but it was veiled to me.

_Are you my sixth sense?_ I asked.

_I guess you could call it that. I am the rational part of your brain that can sense when danger is coming, self preservation if you will._ She tried to explain the best way she could. Another thing clicked into place. I couldn't hear her thoughts.

_Of course you can't._ She read my mind again. _I am just a figment of your imagination conjured up to make you listen to your rational side. You can still be good Victoria. You can go find Laurent and live like the Cullen's do._

_Cullen's?_ I thought. I had managed to forget the name of the strange vampire coven that lived here.

_If you continue down the path that you're on, you will both surely go up in flames._

She finally left me to my thoughts. Was she really right? Was my instinct to survive strong enough to make me leave James?

All he had done was given me a second chance at life. It wasn't my fault that I reacted the same as every other vampire. Kill first, ask questions later.

I stopped by the girl's house just in time to see her father coming home. He slammed the door on his police car and trudged up the stairs.

"If I ever see that miserable Cullen again…" he trailed off as he opened the door.

Curiosity. Why did he hate the Cullen's? Was it because he had stolen his daughter? But he thought that she was in Phoenix, wherever that was.

I decided that human's were fragile and entirely baffling. If I didn't watch myself, I would strike up a conversation with one of them and turn into a softy.

I forced myself to leave. It wouldn't help if I killed the girl's father. That would only make them angrier with us.

I disappeared into the trees again as I headed back to the abandoned house.

But it wasn't completely abandoned anymore.

The truck was pulled into the garage and I could smell the two female vampires in the house. A few minutes later and I could hear them moving in the house, and then talking.

"Have you heard from them?" I could make out the blonde, Rosalie, speaking.

"No." The other one replied in a curt tone. "And that's what worries me. The woman could still be tracking us. If it weren't for that, I would say that we could call them. The same goes for Carlisle and Emmett. The tracker is probably too close for them to call us."

"And Alice and Jasper?" Rosalie asked tersely.

"Just being careful." The other cautioned her.

"Esme…." Rosalie hesitated.

"It will be fine Rosalie." I heard the sounds of shuffling feet as Esme comforted Rosalie.

I ignored the feelings that coursed through me. I was in no way going to be comforted by these strange creatures. I drifted back into the trees where I could look for James or a sign.

There was no sign, but a scent trail. I followed it as it looped around in circles and turned back on itself but I was led into a small field. Stuck in the ground, in the middle of the field, was the barrel of a rifle the rest of it had been torn to shreds and was lying like a trail in front of me. Only James, or another vampire, could have caused that much damage.

I walked forward hesitantly. It felt strange to be out in the open like this. Anyone could come and attack me without me realizing it until it was too late.

There was a note attached to the barrel. I quickly grabbed it and darted off into the safe darkness of the trees. I unfolded the note quickly.

_Come to me._

I saw a hastily drawn map with directions to get to James's hiding spot.

I was about to stick the note in my pocket but realized that I was still in the clothes that I had stolen. Where did I leave my old clothes?

_You left them back at the woman's house._ My conscience told me. I was grateful to have her back.

Before I went to find James, I went to get my old clothes back. Not that I had any attachment to the clothes but they were more comfortable and I only really wanted the wolf-skin. It was a gift from James, back when we were on better terms.

_Oh just leave it!_ She said. _In fact, why don't you just leave him all together? You could do so much better Victoria really!_

Ah, the annoyance. She stayed quiet then. I quickly changed and threw the woman's clothes in the nearest trash can.

I was back in my comfortable clothes and I didn't feel like a stranger anymore, though there was one in my head now.

**Wow I cant beleive that I wrote so much! And on top of that I read Stephanie's new book about Bree! It was so interesting and I cant wait to incoperate it into my fanfic! Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry I'm late getting this out... Its been pretty hectic around here lately and I haven't had a spare chance to write! **

**So here's the next chapter. I kind of did this one blind because I didn't go get the book so I think I did everything in the same sequence. If not then I'm sorry Stephanie! T_T**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter Eleven: Acting

I decided to keep my thoughts to myself and only share the essential information. James wouldn't care if I was going insane.

_True._ My conscience agreed with me. _He no longer cares for you. You should have left with Laurent when you had the chance!_ What a superior attitude she had.

I rolled my eyes as I started running faster, it was starting to rain, not that I cared about my hair or anything, but I was afraid I might loose his trail.

I eventually made it to the little cave where he was waiting.

"Finally I thought you would never get here!" He hugged me. "What did you find out?"

"I followed the wrong pair." I walked over to a rock and sat down. "After I realized they had tricked me, I stayed behind to see if they could give me some information. All they said was that the human had some really bad luck. I ran back to their house and found out that the human had left with the remaining two vampires nearly two minutes after I left." I paused, gauging his reaction. He just waited for more so I continued. "That's when I followed her trail to her house."

I told him everything I knew, editing some parts. He only interrupted when I got to the school part.

"You didn't get in to her records?" The anger that I had feared reared its ugly head.

"I was too close to the humans!" I fumed. "If I had broken the lock on the door they would have noticed."

"It doesn't matter what the humans see!" He yelled as he slapped me.

It didn't hurt, physically. I stared at him silently, I probably would have been crying if I could in this body.

"How did you get away from the others?" I asked quietly.

"I took a plane." He started walking, pacing, in front of me.

"How did you have enough money for a plane ticket?" I wondered if he was holding out on me.

"I got in the cargo." He said like he was explaining it to a simpleton. "We'll call this home base for now, I need to stay low because they'll notice my scent if I go." He stopped pacing and looked at me. "I want you to go back to the school, break in if you have to," he clarified, "and get me more information about her." He smiled wickedly. "I have a plan that I'm forming. I also want you to watch the airports near here. I have a feeling that he may try to go to her, wherever they're hiding her."

It sounded more like he was talking to his spy than his lover. But I was committed to him. He was the only thing I had left in this world.

"Okay." I said tonelessly as I rose from the rock and went to the opening of the cave.

"Oh, before you go." James caught me and reached into his pocket. "Here," he put a cell phone in my hand. "take this. We can stay in contact together."

"Fine." I stuck it in my pocket and left. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him.

_You're finally talking sense!_ My conscience interrupted my mental monologue.

_Leave me alone._ I suggested as I headed back to Forks.

_Sorry, but you're stuck with me, literally._ She thought her joke was funny. _It was funny and you know it._

I tried to stop thinking after that, or at least try to ignore her as much as possible.

Thankfully, it was dark when I got to Forks High. I used the same air duct from earlier. I quickly disabled the security system and ran over to the door where the file cabinet was. I growled in a frustrated tone when it was locked. _Think!_ I told myself. _What would a criminal do?_

_Leave now._ My conscience popped back in my head.

_What am I supposed to do?_ I asked her in an aggravated tone. _James won't let me come home unless I get this information._

I punched the glass out and reached in for the knob. I didn't bother to cut the lights on, it didn't matter I could still see perfectly. I crushed the lock on the door, to late to worry about how the police will figure that one out.

"Smith… Stanly… _Swan!_" I whispered the names to myself. I pulled out the right file and went over to the copier.

While I was waiting for the machine to come to life, I quickly scanned the file.

Dance classes at an early age, quit two years later due to so many accidents, no surprise there. She was highly intelligent, more than average for a normal human. But I guess when you have so many near death experiences outside. You had to find something useful to do in your spare time.

She used to live with her mother in a town called Phoenix, Arizona. She may have gone back home, I doubted it. If she knew that we had the resources to find her then she would have to go somewhere remote. Her coven probably has houses all over the place.

The copy machine hummed as it scanned the pages of her file.

I wondered why she would have come to this sunless town. That seemed to be the only way an accident-prone human and a bizarre vampire could have met. But as I remembered how they looked when we first met, they looked like two people who _wouldn't_have met any other way. What about her would appeal to him, and vice versa, most human's shy away from us, even if they don't understand their natural instincts.

I scanned the first few pages that the copier spit out. Her mother and father had gotten a divorce. The human females moved out to Phoenix when the child was only a year old. Regular visits were organized for the father, she had spent some time here before but then they changed and vacationed in California for the past couple of years. So why the sudden decision to move back to her place of birth, and why would she be going back now? According to the secretary, that's where she told her father she was going.

I couldn't understand human's, and was so glad that I wasn't one, and, for once, I was happy that I couldn't remember my human years.

Once the copier was done, I stuffed the copied file under my arm, replaced the original, and quickly climbed back up the air duct. Once I was about a mile away from the school, I called James. Or I assumed it was James, I picked the last number that was dialed.

"Did you get the information?"

Not, 'Hey, how are you?' nothing. _That just proves he's a scum ball._ If my conscience didn't quit with the wise cracks she was going to have it!

"Did you hear me?" He asked after I didn't respond.

"Yea, I got it." I tried to ignore my internal dialogue.

"Bring it to me." He said just before he snapped the phone shut.

_What, no goodbye?_ She said. _Wow what a gentlemen._

I ignored her as I ran back to the cave.

When I gave the file to James he very nearly salivated on it.

When he looked at me again he smiled and said. "I think its time to pay Mrs. Dwyer a visit."

"You're going to Phoenix?" I asked incredulously as he walked passed me.

"I can blend in." James flipped the page as he spoke to me, barely aware that I was still there.

"I'm coming with you." I followed him in his pacing.

"No you're not. I need you here to keep an eye on the vampires. I still need to figure out where there hiding her."

"I have a bad feeling about this." I warned him. Which was true, my conscience had expressed worry about leaving him this way. Even if she didn't like him, she cared about me, how I would react if… but I couldn't think about that.

He didn't seem to have heard me as he walked out of the cave.

"Use the phone to keep in touch." He said as he disappeared into the trees.

Maybe we just needed some space. We had been together for a really long time, even human's needed their space every now and then.

_That's the spirit._ She agreed. _You're sounding more like yourself all the time._

I frowned as I headed of to the nearest airport. But then another priority presented itself. My throat started to burn subtly. I wondered where I should go to hunt.

With this newly found conscience made me not want to just kill randomly. I had to think about who I would pick.

_Now you're starting to think like a good vampire._ She commented.

Like there was such a thing as a good vampire. I ran all the way to Seattle, I didn't want to get in more trouble with the vampires by killing one of their pet's friends.

I found the slummier part of Seattle. It wasn't hard for me to fit in. As I took in the sites, I noticed that I blended in with the colorful crowd. I chose my prey carefully. No one here would have waiting families back home like that woman Jenny.

My first victim was done before I was.

_Well it couldn't hurt. You are the only vampire around here. What's a double homicide?_ I couldn't believe what she was saying.

_I thought you were my more noble side._ I told her.

_Yes, well at the moment, I'm just as thirsty as you are._ She admitted as her eyes, which were coal black, gave her away. I smiled as I found her flaw. I could manipulate her when I was weak. _Don't push it._ She grumbled.

I walked down an alley that someone had told me was a good place for creepers. The guy looked at me like I was insane but I really didn't care, it felt good to finally cut loose. I gave him a wink before I left.

_Ooh! Wouldn't James be jealous?_ She commented as I walked away. I didn't answer. When I didn't she snickered. _When James is away, Victoria will play…_

I ran to the nearest airport after I was done.

It didn't seem likely that they would get on a plane when they could run or drive to wherever she was but I wasn't going to disrupt James's obsessive little game. I would do it his way, and then put my foot down when the human girl was dead.

_It's time you put yourself first._ She agreed with me.

Luck was with me once again. They had been here just recently. It was difficult since I was around so many people who would notice it, but I followed the scent all the way to the arrival/departure desk.

"Hello ma'am." The man behind the desk addressed me.

"Hello." I smiled politely.

"Can I help you?"

"Maybe." I leaned across the table and started walking my fingers across the table. "It's always been a dream of mine to work for an airport." I looked up at him and smiled coyly.

His heart reacted to my advances, but his voice was still professional. "Well, it's not the life I would have chosen for myself."

"Oh, come on now…" I had to look at his name tag. "Ronnie."

His eyes flashed to mine when I said his name and the blood pooled in his cheeks, a blush. I started to giggle, something I haven't done in a while.

"Would you like to take a tour. It's time for my break." He said as he walked around the desk to stand not two feet from me, closer than most humans ever got to us.

"Sure." I smiled as he offered me his arm.

On the way to the fast food hall down two floors he asked about my eyes.

"I got contacts." I lied with an easy smile. "I was always chauvinistic in my younger days."

"Ya, there kinda freaky though…." He laughed nervously. I noticed that he never looked me in the eyes again. That's the way it's supposed to be, the human's couldn't explain to their rational minds what their instincts told them.

But I didn't want Ronnie to leave. He was a nice gentleman when you got down to it. He would shake his sandy blonde hair every now and then to get it out of his face. He smiled a lot when I looked at him. He didn't comment on my lack of appetite.

It would have been a shame if Ronnie was the man that I had killed just twenty minutes before hand. I liked talking to him about even the most trivial things. It was hard to make myself focus on my original intent here.

"So I was wondering," I broached the subject after he had ordered his third cup of coffee. "I'm trying to track down some of my friends."

"What do they look like?" He seemed eager to help me.

"Well one has wavy blonde hair and is a doctor, the other two are his sons, the oldest is very muscular and has curly brown hair, and the youngest has messy red hair. Have you seen anyone like that around here?"

"Umm…." He really didn't want to disappoint me. "I think so, the doctor at least."

"Did he buy a plane ticket?" I wish James could have been here, this is how you got information out of people.

_Of course, manipulation works just as well as anything._ My conscience said as Ronnie flipped his hair out of his eyes again.

_Shut up_. I thought at the same time he said, "I'm really not supposed to give out personal information."

"But he's my friend. I just want to know where he's going." I pouted a little. "I think he's trying to surprise me for my 22nd birthday."

"Well…."

With a little more prodding, I finally got the answer out of him. I hung around a little longer than I probably would have. I wanted to give James more time and space before I called him.

_Sure you do._ My conscience said as I talked with Ronnie.

Alright, if I was being completely honest with myself, and my conscience, I really did enjoy talking to Ronnie, he was an easy person to get along with.

When I was finally able to leave the air port I called James. He answered on the first ring.

"Did you find anything new?" He asked straight away.

"I found out that one of them bought a plane ticket to Phoenix." I whispered into the receiver, a couple was walking towards me but passed before I could have a panic attack.

"Phoenix huh?" He commented.

"Did you get there alright?"

"Yea, I got here about twenty minutes ago. I'm at her house now."

"Don't you think that's dangerous James?" If one of them was going to Phoenix, they might decide to check on the girl's mother.

"No, the human isn't even here. The neighbor said she was living in Florida with her new mate." I heard some popping and cracking noises in the background.

"What are you doing?" I asked as more voices could be heard in the background.

"I'm watching their home videos." James said in a distracted tone. "I need to get a feel of how this human works. How her mind works."

"Well, how about you, did you find anything interesting?"

"No, the stuff here is mostly what was in the file you copied. I'm just looking at the movies now. Tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy. I may go out and do some exploring." He sounded displeased about this. He didn't like exposing himself even in cloudy weather.

"Well, good luck then." I wished him.

"Yea." He said before he snapped the phone shut.

"Bye." I said to no one on the other line as I walked down the street. What was I supposed to do now? Wait on his next phone call? Maybe I should have insisted on going with him to Phoenix. Maybe I should leave now; I could be there by the morning.

_But James would be upset about that._ My conscience said. _You could go try to find Laurent._ She suggested.

_That would be the opposite of helpful._ I told her. _It's best if I just forget about him._

_Best for whom?_ She asked quietly before fading away.

Ugh, I hated when she did that. I turned down an alleyway and went in just far enough that no one would see me scale the wall. Then I hauled myself up the wall and up to the roof top. The Seattle sky line was beautiful no doubt. All the lights were shining like brilliant stars. I looked up to the sky where the real stars should be, but couldn't see them for the clouds. I wondered, as I sat down on the roof, if Laurent could see the stars wherever he was.

**Wait a minute! Is Victoria considering Laurent? O_o lol Read and Review to keep the nomads away! ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow! This is a great one! I wrote it non-stop! I really got to go into my more eivil side! XD After this one comes the epilouge and then the sequel: Revenge Bites! Hope you go read it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Chapter 12: Change of Heart

James didn't call for a week. I was starting to wonder if something was wrong.

_Good riddance!_ My conscience said like she knew something was wrong.

_What are you talking about?_ I asked her.

_Maybe you should try contacting him?_ She suggested in a rush.

I picked up the phone and dialed, I got an automated voice saying that the number had been disconnected.

_Uh-oh…_ My conscience said at the same time my stomach dropped. I didn't care that the sun was out, I didn't care if I had to steal again, something was wrong, very wrong and James needed me.

I crawled down the wall and broke into the first apartment that I came too. A man owned this house, no feminine clothes in sight. I quickly unlocked the front door and ran to the nearest door, invisible with speed.

Thankfully, a couple lived in this apartment. I ran to her closet and rummaged until I found tight black leather pants, black shoes, and a black trench-coat. She also had a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses. I grabbed those and stuffed my other clothes into a black over the shoulder bag.

"Lisa?" A man asked, no doubt he saw the lock was broken on the door. "Is that you?" His footsteps were right outside the bedroom door.

I went straight for the window, but I think he saw me. I broke through the glass and jumped. I grabbed the fire escape on the next building and dug my nails into the bricks and started to climb. I was almost out of the city before I heard the sirens.

I ran the whole way to Phoenix. The problem was I didn't know where to look.

I decided to start at the address of the human's house. When I got there, the girl's mother and her mate were there. I could hear them talking inside.

"Can you believe it Phil?" the female asked. "That dance studio was where Bella used to take dance."

"Yea, that was a strange coincidence." Phil said. "How is she?"

"She'll stay in the hospital for another week, and then she'll go back home with Carlisle and Edward."

"What's with that face?" Phil asked.

"I don't know about that Edward kid." She admitted. "I mean he seems like a sweet kid, but _I_ think he thinks this accident was his fault."

"Now Renee, why would you think that?" Phil asked her.

"I don't know," Renee sighed. "Just call it mother's intuition."

I tried to stroll down the street casually, but when I came across James's scent, I had nearly ran towards it.

I also smelt gasoline and the last ruminants of a fire. It didn't take long to put two and two together. I eventually made my way to the dance studio they mentioned and saw the devastation.

The building had been completely burned to the ground. No one, human or vampire, could have survived it. I walked through the wreckage and found a small video recorder. Taped to the back was a note that read, 'For Red'

I picked it up and went to press play but someone called out to me before I could press it.

"Excuse me miss, but this area is off limits." I turned to see a female police officer stepping out of a police car.

I stuffed the video recorder in my pocket and spoke to her.

"Did you find anyone?" I tried to ask casually.

"A body was found but nothing more." She replied cynically. There was a buzzing from a radio, she climbed into her squad car and speeded away. But she didn't say if it was male or female.

I looked up at the sun. I needed to get out of the sun before someone else saw me.

I quickly walked down to a dark alley. I tore the note off the recorder and pressed play.

"Bella? Bella?" I heard the terrified voice of the girl's mother. But I couldn't see her. Did James kidnap her mother? "Bella, you scared me! Don't you ever do that to me again!" While her mother was speaking, the human burst into the door on the far side of the large room, there were floor-to-ceiling mirrors and a gold band going down them, I assumed that this was the dance studio. Then there was the sound of her mother laughing and the girl whirled to face me. "Bella? Bella?" Her mother called again as James walked in silently behind her. He was wearing a pale blue long-sleeved shirt and faded blue jeans, absolutely average looking. She turned slowly to face him.

He didn't speak to her as he walked over to me, setting a remote down on something under me. She watched James silently the whole time.

"Sorry about that, Bella, but isn't it better that your mother didn't really have to be involved in all this?" James asked. To my surprise, his voice was civil, kind.

Revelation lit her eyes. So it was all a ruse, James had used one of her home videos to lure her to her death.

"Yes." She answered. Her voice was calm and collected with a tone of relief.

"You don't seem angry that I tricked you."

"I'm not." She was… confident? It was sad that this girl was too delicious for her own good; she was so complicated to figure out.

"How odd. You really mean it. I'll give your strange coven this much, you humans can be quite interesting." I agreed with him. "I guess I can see the draw of observing you. It's amazing – some of you seem to have no sense of your own self- interest at all." He continued after a moment's silence. "I suppose you're going to tell me that your boyfriend will avenge you?" He asked hopefully, he had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face.

"No, I don't think so. At least, I asked him not to." She replied still in a calm voice.

"And what was his reply to that?"

"I don't know. I left him a letter."

"How romantic, a last letter. And do you think he will honor it?" It hurt me to hear the sarcasm marring his politeness. I used to write him love letters all the time.

"I hope so."

"Hmmm. Well, our hopes differ then. You see, this was all just a little too easy, too quick." He mirrored my thoughts. "To be honest, I'm disappointed. I expected a much greater challenge. And, after all, I only needed a little luck."

She waited in silence.

"When Victoria couldn't get to your father, I had her find out more about you." _Demanded is more like it._ My conscience corrected him. She started watching along with me. "There was no sense in running all over the planet chasing you down when I could comfortably wait for you in the place of my choosing." Anger boiled inside me, he made me do all the grunt work and he was here, just waiting on her. "So, after I talked to Victoria, I decided to come to Phoenix to pay your mother a visit. I'd heard you say you were going home." So he tailed their car and didn't tell me? Anger flared again almost coating my vision in a red haze. "At first, I never dreamed that you meant it. But then I wondered. Humans can be very predictable;" _Not this one perhaps._ My conscience said. "they like to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. And wouldn't it be the perfect ploy, to go to the last place you should be when you're hiding – the place you should be when you're hiding – the place that you said you'd be." _Of course!_ My conscience hissed. _That was the set up the whole time!_

"But of course I wasn't sure, it was just a hunch. I usually get a feeling about the prey that I'm hunting, a sixth sense, if you will. I listened to your message when I got to your mother's house, but of course I couldn't be sure where you called from. It was very useful to have your number, but you could have been in Antarctica for all I knew, and the game wouldn't work unless you were close by.

"You're boyfriend got on a plane to Phoenix. Victoria was monitoring them for me, naturally; in a game with this many players, I couldn't be working alone." It sounded more like he regarded me like a team mate but I couldn't be sure. "And so they told me what I'd hoped, that you were here after all. I was prepared; I'd already been through your charming house movies. And then it was simply a matter of the bluff. Very easy, you know, not really up to my standards." _Standards?_ My conscience questioned. "So, you see, I'm hoping you're wrong about your boyfriend, Edward isn't it?" How did he find out that?

I could tell he didn't want to have to explain this all to her, there was no fun in beating a weak, defenseless human. He lived for a challenge.

"Would you mind, very much, if I left a little letter of my own for your Edward?" He asked as he turned back to me and adjusted the screen, making it wider. Her face was masked in horror. She apparently didn't realize he was already filming her.

"I'm sorry, but I just don't think he'll be able to resist hunting me after he watches this. And I wouldn't want him to miss anything." So the game wasn't over. "It was all for him, of course." So he wasn't after the girl anymore, he was just trying to get a better prize. "You're simply a human, who unfortunately was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and indisputably running with the wrong crowd, I might add." He walked forward, turning his back on me. "Before we begin, I would just like to, just a little bit. The answer was there all along, and I was so afraid Edward would see that and ruin my fun. It happened once, oh, ages ago. The one and only time my prey escaped me."

What was he talking about? He had never told me this before.

"You see, the vampire who was so stupidly fond of this little victim made the choice that your Edward was too weak to make. When the old one knew I was after his little friend, he stole her away from the asylum where he worked – I _never_ will understand the obsession some vampires seem to form with you humans –" _You're a good one to talk._ My conscience contradicted him. "and as soon as he freed her he made her safe. She didn't seem to notice the pain, poor little creature. She'd been stuck in that black hole of a cell for so long. A hundred years earlier and she would have been burned at the stake for her visions. In the nineteen-twenties it was the asylum and the shock treatments. When she opened her eyes, strong with her fresh youth, it was like she'd never seen the sun before. The old vampire made her a strong new vampire, and there was no reason for me to touch her then." He sighed. "I destroyed the old one in vengeance."

"Alice." She was shocked, as was I. This must have been before I had met him again.

"Yes, your little friend. I _was_ surprised to see her in the clearing. So I guess her coven ought to be able to derive some comfort from this experience. I get you, but they get her. One victim who escaped me, quite an honor, actually."

How could he not tell me this? I thought mates shared everything, I had told him everything about me, and yet he was holding out on me.

"And she did smell so delicious. I still regret that I never got to taste… She smelled even better than you do." It sounded like he was salivating. "Sorry – I don't mean to be offensive. You have a very nice smell. Floral somehow…" He took another step towards her, tugged at a piece of her hair, sniffed it, and then gingerly patted it back into place. He stroked his fingers across her throat. He reached up and touched her face once with his thumb.

"No," He murmured to himself. "I don't understand." He sighed in frustration. "Well, I suppose we should get on with it." He was so formal it was astounding. "And then I'll call your friends and tell them where to find you, and my little message."

Her face was turning green. Her knees began to shake. He started to circle her, casually. I noticed his hunting stance right of. His smile turned into a menacing display of teeth. She surprised my by running for the exit. Didn't she know that James could outrun her? I couldn't see where she ran to but I defiantly saw her fly across the screen and smash into a solid wall of glass. The glass shattered and rained down on her.

"That's a very nice effect," he walked back into my view. "I thought this room would be visually dramatic for my little film. That's why I picked this place to meet you." So it was just a coincidence that he chose this place. He didn't know she used to take dancing classes there. "It's perfect, isn't it?"

She was ignoring him, crawling towards the other door. He stood over her and stomped the ground, then I noticed he had broken her leg in an attempt to delay her escape. She screamed in pain.

"Would you like to rethink your last request?" James asked in a friendly tone. It was more frightening than if he was snarling at her. He nudged her leg with his toe. She screamed again and started to cry. "Wouldn't you rather have Edward try to find me?"

"No!" she croaked. "No, Edward, don't –" he was frustrated with her stubbornness. He smacked her across the face, like he did me, sending her back into the glass. This time, it sliced her brow and the blood started to pool.

She started to smile faintly. I knew he wouldn't last much longer, from the limited view of his eyes that I saw before, they were black. Her eyes started to close, she was fading fast.

He growled as she put up her hands defensively. He leaned in and grabbed her arm and tore through the skin at her wrist.

Then the others arrived. The ones named Rosalie and Esme were no where to be found. Only the others were present. The red head, Edward, slammed into James and knocked him off of the human. Once he saw that his human was at the point of death, he forgot all about James.

The others grabbed James and started tearing him to pieces. I was horrified. I thought we were indestructible. Watching them rip him to pieces made me angrier than I had been about James's lies. I knew then that I would make them suffer. I would tear them all into tiny little pieces and set their house on fire.

"Oh no, Bella, no!" Edward cried out in horror. "Bella, please!" he knelt beside her. "Bella, listen to me, please, please, Bella, please!" His desperate please were going unanswered. "Carlisle!" he cried out in agony. He searched for his leader among the monsters who were ripping and burning James. It didn't take long for the leader to reach them. He didn't seem effected at all by the blood, why?

"Bella, Bella, no, oh please, no, no!" Edward cried out in frustration and sadness that almost had me feeling sorry for him, almost. He was choking on tearless sobs. The leader started feeling across her head. When he touched the gash in her forehead, she stirred and gasped in pain.

"Bella!" Edward cried as he took her hand.

"She's lost some blood, but the head wound isn't deep." The leader replied calmly. He was strange to me. Edward apparently was too far gone to notice the blood but what about the other? Why was he so calm, like he had done this a thousand times before? "Watch out for her leg, it's broken."

Edward howled in rage, it filled the room, announcing their appearance. The other three vampires looked towards them. James was already a smoldering pile of ashes. The rest of the room was starting to catch on fire. The two males started looking for a fire extinguisher while the female just looked at the scene in horror.

"Some ribs to I think." The leader continued his examination, like he was a doctor of some sorts. Did he get a kick out of injuring himself, being constantly on fire, just to save pathetic human lives? These vampires were strange indeed.

"Edward…" the human's voice was very faint. I had to strain to hear it over the burning.

"Bella, you're going to be fine. Can you hear me Bella? I love you." Edward tried to comfort himself as well as her.

"Edward…" she tried to speak again.

"Yes I'm here." He leaned closer to her.

"It hurts." She whimpered.

"I know, Bella, I know –" he pulled away from her towards his leader. "can't you do anything?"

"My bag please…." He instructed the female. "Hold your breath Alice, it will help." So this was the famous Alice. She was so tiny in comparison to the others. She must have been very young when she was changed.

"Alice?" The human asked in a groggy tone. She was on the verge of unconsciousness again.

"She's here, she knew where to find you." Edward informed her.

"My hand hurts." She told him. Apparently, he didn't know she had been bitten.

"I know Bella. Carlisle will give you something, it will stop" Edward was missing the point.

"My hand is burning!" She screamed, finally opening her eyes.

He was frightened and couldn't understand. "Bella?"

"The fire! Someone stop the fire!" She screamed again. She started smacking her own hand, like it was on fire. My own hand flew up to my neck as I remembered my own fire.

"Carlisle her hand!" Edward drew Carlisle's attention to it.

"He bit her." The leader's voice was appalled. What did he think James was going to do?

"Edward you have to do it." The female, Alice, said. She was straining against her own thirst, much worse than the others at the moment. This was how a true vampire was supposed to act.

"No." he glared at her. Silent communication passed between the two of them. I wondered if she had a vision about this day and knew he would change her.

"Alice." The human moaned.

"There may be a chance." The leader suggested something different.

"What?" Edward looked at him in desperation. It seemed that he would do anything to keep this human from becoming like him. The strangeness of these creatures amazed me.

"See if you can suck the venom back out. The wound is fairly clean." The leader told him as he started to sew up her head.

"Will that work?" the female asked in a strained voice.

"I don't know, but we have to hurry." The leader told her as he scanned the room. The others had apparently not been able to find a fire extinguisher and made a hasty exit out the back door.

"Carlisle I…" Edward hesitated, looking down at the human he had pledged his love to. "I don't know if I can do that." Agony again as he couldn't fight the monster that he was.

"It's your decision, Edward, either way." The leader was giving him the chance to make her a vampire, or keeping her human. "I cant help you. I have to get this bleeding stopped here if you're going to be taking blood from her hand."

The human started to writhe in pain, aggravating her broken leg.

"Edward!" She screamed again.

"Alice, get me something to brace her leg!" The leader told the female. "Edward, you must do it now, or it will be too late."

Edward sucked in a deep breath, letting the scent pull him closer to his target. He held her arm in place and bent his lips to the place where James had bitten her.

She started screaming and writhing. It was hard to hear the female vampire's words of comfort. The writhing slowed her face had become ashen, sweat and blood covered her face.

"He's right here Bella." Carlisle permitted himself a brief smile to Edward. She must have asked for him.

"Stay, Edward, stay with me please…." She was loosing consciousness again.

"I will." His voice was triumphant, yet at the same time, strained.

Now that the venom was out of her system, I hoped fiercely that they were too late. That the girl would die, that was justice in my eyes. They had killed my love, so why shouldn't he suffer?

Then my conscience did something I never expected. She started planning different ways to get revenge. Apparently her grievance with James was over now that his death had caused me such pain. She continued to plot as I continued to watch.

"Is it all out?" The leader asked Edward.

"Her blood tastes clean, I can taste the morphine." Edward answered. So the leader was a doctor.

"Bella? Is the fire gone?" the leader asked her.

"Yes." She sighed. "Thank you Edward."

"I love you." Was his answer.

"I know." She closed her eyes again.

"So does this make it three?" The female asked, too quickly for her to pick up.

"I guess so." Edward answered, again, too quickly for her to hear.

"Bella?" the leader asked her again.

She frowned before answering. "What?"

"Where is your mother?"

"In Florida. He tricked me, Edward. He watched our videos."

Alice looked over at the recorder and rushed over to it.

"Alice." The human called from the other side of the room. The female vampire brought the recorder with her back to the girl. "Alice, the video – he knew where you came from." Her nose scrunched up. "I smell gasoline."

Then the recording stopped. The female vampire must have turned it off to replay it.

I snapped the recorder shut. I checked in on my conscience to see how the planning was going. I added my own thoughts into it, making her plans better.

I slumped against the wall I was leaning against and sat down on the concrete. It was almost night fall and the other creatures of the night were starting to prowl about.

"Excuse me?" A voice asked me. "Can I help you?"

I looked at him, removing my glasses so that I could see him properly. "Why actually, I think you can." I answered him calmly.

He screamed out in pain.

**Please read and review! What do you think about the title of the sequel? I need to know if you think it sounds stupid!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I decided to make this one short. I debated on whether or not to include the prom scene like what was in the movie but decided that it really didn't pertain to the natural flow of events. Don't hate me die-hard fans of the movie! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Epilogue

I stayed as close as I dared to the strange vampires. I couldn't go directly into the hospital for the blood that was always near the human. I kept the dark outfit on as a sign of mourning.

James, my one and only love, James…. He was gone, forever. I had recommitted myself to finishing what he started. And once these strange, yellow-eyed vampires and their pet human were all destroyed, I would find a way to kill myself. That was the plan my conscience and I had agreed on. She was nearly deranged as I was at the moment. Fortunately, for the humans, I was in better control.

When I heard the leader explain to one of the nurses that they would be leaving shortly, I made plans to follow after them.

I didn't risk getting on the same plane as they did. I stowed away on the plane before theirs.

When I got off at Seattle, I ran for Forks. A plane wouldn't be fast enough. I checked their house first. The two other females were no where to be seen, but they had left recently, to join the others at the air port maybe. I didn't risk letting my scent glaze over anything but the ferns that ringed their back yard.

I struggled to remember the time before James's death, when Laurent and I had our conversation out here.

Then a new course of action occurred to me. Why not go find Laurent? He was supposedly with that other coven who knew a lot about this strange one. Maybe he could give me valuable information about them, something to give me the upper hand.

The vampires arrived home shortly after that.

"I'm glad that Bella is alright." The oldest female sighed in relief as she gracefully sank into one of the white couches.

"But it could have been worse." The leader said as he sat down beside her.

The blonde female and the buff brunette vampires rushed upstairs into what I imagined was their room, it was hard to concentrate on the discussion downstairs when I could see everything, but I made myself focus. They could give me valuable information.

"I'm just glad we made it in time." The dark haired female said. "It was dicey there for a few minutes."

"I don't understand why he didn't just let her become one of us." The other blonde male said. "It would make things so much easier."

"Jasper, I don't condone taking an innocent life." The leader told him. "The only reason I changed the others is because they were dying. According to that video, that was Alice's only escape at the time. You were pulled into a war that you had no idea existed. We all had no choice in this life. Edward wants Bella to live."

Jasper had nothing to say.

"Oh!" Alice abruptly said.

"What is it Alice?" Jasper asked.

"I totally forgot about prom!" She wailed. The others, who had gone tense with Jasper's question, relaxed. "I need to go find our dresses and rent the tux's!" She darted out of the room and up to her room. I tried to ignore the room next too it, thankfully she moved into her monster closet, clawing through its contents.

"I hope Alice's double future never happens." The oldest female sighed. "It's so tragic, yet I want it so bad for Edward."

"It is a sticky situation Esme." The leader agreed with her. "We'll just have to see how the next months pan out."

"I guess." Esme said.

Jasper, glided up the stairs, banged on the other two vampire's door, and then walked into his own room to help his mate, or rather distract her.

They went about their normal activities and I decided that was all I was going to get.

I ran into a deserted part of the forest and took the clothes out of the bag. I took off the leather pants, putting my old jeans on, and my old shirt. Keeping the trench coat and glasses.

I fished the lighter out of the leather pants pocket and set the discarded clothes on fire, setting the wolf's skin on top of it. It was James's burial shroud in my opinion, but also a burning of my old self in a way. When I turned away from the burning pile, I was a different person. My whole life had been destroyed. All I had left was finishing what my dead love started. An abomination like this coven didn't deserve to live. I wondered if I should inform the Volturi of this, but then decided that I wanted to finish this with my own hands.

More time passed, and I was still plotting my next move. I observed them from a distance and realized why they were so different from me. They hunted animals, every single one of them.

The leader worked at the local hospital, the younger ones went to the local high school with their pet human, and the other female apparently stayed at home and worked on building projects. I found out more about them just by observing than any other way.

_But you would learn more from Laurent. _My conscience told me.

Without a second thought, I started running in the direction that Laurent's, now dead, trail had taken up to the north.

**I'll probably start working on Revenge Bites tomorrow if I have a spare moment. I'll probably have it up by early next week! And another thing, I probably wont be updating again until after the first of July. I have a lot of big event's coming up and probably won't have time to write! T_T So don't get angry and just be patient with me! Thanks!**

**See you in Revenge Bites! XD**


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